Bronze
by logica
Summary: AU. What was found in this city surprised them both.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They are not my property.

* * *

She looked at the small, yellow piece of paper with the name of the taxi company written in terrible handwriting; the black ink being smudged by the thumb of her sweaty hand. She then stopped on the pavement, putting one of the two large, green bags on the filthy ground. Elizabeth wished she could pack light and not bother like this but her work, unfortunately, hadn't allowed her that. She couldn't find anything or anyone to carry her bags. Apparently the size of the bags and her being a slender woman hadn't sent the message to anyone in this airport that some assistance would be welcomed. She stood there, next to the small line of taxis that waited for customers.

Elizabeth shot a look at the yellow picture before her and tried to wipe some sweat away from her forehead. She had been in Kroleva for only half an hour and she was already sweating in the shade. She dared not imagine what the temperature was like with the scorching heat here. It was good that she decided to take her colleague Laura's advice and restrain from wearing make up here. Once again she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand. She had been surprised to find the use of computers here, but when she reached the information desk to ask about a reliable taxi company, the computer there happened to be in repair and she was given the name on this piece of paper. She could still remember the way that poor, young woman pronounced the name in terrible English…. Good thing, too, because the smudged ink made the name of the taxi company almost unreadable – not that the horrible handwriting in which it had been written had helped, really.

"Wildcat. Okay, sounds reasonable…." She went past the names of the cars, hoping it would be a good, perhaps air-conditioned, vehicle. Nothing turned up until she noticed a small sign at the very back sticking up. Dragging her bags alongside the long pavement by herself, she finally reached the end. When she stopped and saw her ride, Elizabeth frowned. It hadn't been an air-conditioned car… in fact, it wasn't a car at all but a three-wheeled bicycle with coach.

The chubby driver with black, curly hair smiled at her. "Ride?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked up at the sign to make sure this had been the right one. Wildcat. She looked down at the coach again. _Mosquito would be a better name_, she thought to herself and hesitated for a moment. She had been advised of this company only because it had been the only one with the reputation of having to stay away from ripping the pockets of visitors with ridiculously high fare prices. "Yes," she agreed.

The man nodded and pointed to the red seats. Elizabeth waited for a moment, expecting the driver to help her with her baggage, but instead, she was forced to carry them to the seat next to her. The driver finally came to help her put the bags on the seat, probably noticing that she obviously lacked the strength to do it herself.

When she was finally on her way to the hotel, Elizabeth tried to fan herself with her hand, but it did nothing. There wasn't even a decent breeze as the taxi picked up speed. The travel to Delonia had taken fourteen hours and she had to change four planes on the way. Needless to say, she had very little sleep and ate even less, as plane food had never appealed to her. Passing by the beach, she saw the refreshing site of the blue lake. It seemed alluring to her and she even contemplated jumping off the coach and straight into the lake. Elizabeth glanced at her watch and realized that she forgot to wind it forward eight hours. Just as she was spinning that small button, the coach passed over some rocks and Elizabeth was almost thrown through the thin plastic over her that was supposed to shelter her from the sun. "Crap!" she swore and grasped the handles of her bag. There were no seatbelts but at least her luggage was heavy enough to prevent her from jumping up or anywhere else away from her seat.

After twenty minutes, the taxi finally stopped in front of the hotel. Looking at the entrance, it seemed like a small 15th century castle with white walls and the name Cherry Blossom written above the entrance.

She paid the driver and was greeted by a bellhop. Taking her bags, the poor boy with his scrawny arms did his best to carry them inside. As she followed him, she wanted to just take the bags herself and spare him the trouble but, just then, another young man ran over to them and took the other bag. When she entered the hotel, the heat was unfortunately still there but it had been a bearable temperature – one that wouldn't force her body to release excessive amounts of sweat.

The interior of the Cherry Blossom appeared modest, not that she had expected a five-star hotel anyway. The walls were once again white with some paintings with city themes; a few plants here and there, few wooden tables and chairs, and a handful of guests about. When she reached the reception desk, a short, blonde woman with her hair in a ponytail greeted her with a ridiculous wide grin. Elizabeth thought that if she had tried to smile like that, her lips would rip apart. The woman spoke something in Deloninan and then in English. "Welcome to the Cherry Blossom hotel, madam."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, amazing herself that she had managed to not collapse from all the heat and lack of sleep. She exhaled and raised her eyebrows. "Thank you. My name is Dr. Elizabeth Weir. I have a reservation."

The receptionist typed the name into the older computer to check. A moment later she nodded and smiled again. "Ah, Ms. Weir. Yes, we have been expecting you."

Elizabeth noticed the woman's English had been better but the accent could still use some work. She was presented with a small form and her keys. Picking up her pen, it took her five minutes to read the tiny print and understand what was required. By the time she was finished, she made a mental note to check her vision when she returned to Toronto. If more documents were with tiny letters like this form, she would surely need glasses by the time she returned home.

She took the key with the number 18 on it and followed the bellhops with only her black rucksack on her. Naturally, there was no elevator so she had to climb four stories. She was amazed at the absence of tiredness from the bellhops. Elizabeth didn't want to imagine how many times and what light or heavy bags these boys had to drag through these stairs.

When they reached the fourth floor, there was a narrow hallway with five black doors. Room 18 had been at the end of the hallway. Entering the room, the boys left the bags and were generously tipped by Elizabeth who felt sorry for them and the trouble their job forced them to go through. They happily accepted the tip and left.

Finally alone, she dropped her rucksack and looked around the small room that appeared as modest as the rest of the hotel. Lime-colored walls, white drapes, a single bed with a decent pillow and sheets. Above the bed was a drawing on the wall of a large cat surrounded by trees – it looked pretty. Across the bed was a simple table and a chair; a yellow lamp stood on the table, and a small mirror on the wall above the table. A yellow curtain close to the bed revealed the small bathroom with a shower, sink with a mirror and toilet. To her surprise there were two bars of soap and pink toilet paper, while next to the shower was a black towel with the word Cherry written in yellow.

On the other side of the bed were two glass doors. Opening them, Elizabeth stepped through and found herself on the small, stone balcony. A dense view of the jungle met her, and a little further she could see the famous waterfall of the town. It hadn't been the lake she had hoped for, but this would do. She tapped the railing and then stepped back in. Quickly taking off her gray travel jacket, she threw it on the chair and then put her hands on her hips, wondering whether to unpack completely or take a shower first. Exhaling tiredly, she threw her hands in the air. Screw it, she was exhausted. Elizabeth fell on the bed that was surprisingly comfortable…or perhaps it had been her tired brain that would make even a rock seem like a bed of feathers. The moment her face felt the soft surface of the pillow, her eyelids fell over her eyes.

Finally rest.

* * *

A rooster of all things woke her up. Moaning, she lazily turned her face toward the light from the opened balcony, her eyes remaining closed. Bringing her hand slowly to the pillow, Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at her watch. 11:24 AM. She had been asleep for sixteen hours. _Must be a record_, she thought. Dragging herself away from the bed, she walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She then went back to her bags and took out what she needed before heading back to the shower.

Taking off her dusty clothing, she stepped inside and almost screamed when the freezing drops of water hit her body. When did the temperature change? It was hot when she tested it with her hand before. It took her some time to finally adjust the water temperature. Elizabeth was grateful that there was at least hot water here. She didn't want to return from her excavations to a freezing shower.

After she dried off, Elizabeth tightened the belt of her bathrobe and took her rucksack. She pulled out her cell phone only to remember that it had been impossible to get a signal in Kroleva. Why had she taken it with her in the first place? Throwing it on the bed, she then pulled out her planner. She had a meeting with the director of the Kroleva museum in four hours. Yawning, Elizabeth wished it had been tomorrow instead to give her more time to shake off her jetlag but she pushed her complaints aside and took out her makeup kit instead. She rarely put make up on, and when she did it had been mostly for formal meetings and gatherings. She liked that her job hadn't required the need of using make up most of the times.

Putting on a pair of khaki pants and short-sleeved shirt of the same color with a white tee underneath, Elizabeth took out her brown shoes and hat before snatching her rucksack and key.

Climbing down the stairs, her stomach reminded her loudly enough that it needed food. Hurrying to the small restaurant that was outside, Elizabeth found the place to be quite charming. A small round fountain stood in the middle with wooden chairs and tables that surrounded it. The chairs had thin red pillows and the vacant tables were decorated with a bouquet of pink and white flowers. Tall trees surrounded the restaurant, providing it with thick and incredibly welcomed shade. There was no air conditioning here, so these blessed things were indeed a blessing. There were a small number of guests here, as Elizabeth figured the lack of luxury had probably put off a lot of tourists from visiting Kroleva. In her mind that was unfortunate, because although the service was far from perfect, the history that this place had and what she had learned before getting the opportunity to come here, was rich and worth the hassle. At least, she had hoped that would be the case.

Picking up the worn out paper that was supposed to be the menu, Elizabeth scanned the offered meals. The majority were vegetarian dishes with occasional fish and lamb. The names sounded eatable. She decided on the Rosie Garden, intrigued by the name but expecting little as her experience had taught her to be careful with food abroad and especially with her profession.

She waited for half an hour until her meal was finally presented to her. Had she been forced to wait another five minutes, she would've considered eating those leaves. Two pink sticks were presented to her, filled with pieces of red fish, green, carrots, something purple, and small tentacles sticking out from the edges with two toothpicks pierced through the sticks. The smell managed to convince her to taste the dish. Having no knife or fork, Elizabeth took a napkin and then took one of the sticks. Taking a bite, her mouth was soon filled by a strange mass that tasted disturbing enough to trigger her gagging reflex. Feeling impolite to throw it up, Elizabeth tried hard to chew. Each attempt at the grinding of the meal only increased her desire to puke. In the end it became so unbearable that she brought the napkin to her mouth and slowly threw out the mass in it, trying for it to be as unnoticeable as possible. Not wanting to end up with something that would force her to bed, Elizabeth opted for a safe salad instead. It may not satisfy her hunger entirely, but it could hopefully get her through the next few hours until the meeting with George Krevon, the director, was over.

* * *

The museum was a one-story building that appeared as if it had been built entirely by clay. Not for real of course, but the façade was pretty convincing. When she entered the small hallway, she saw a table with two guards sitting on it. One of them had been asleep, while the other was reading a newspaper. Elizabeth approached them. "Excuse me," she called. The guard, the one that was awake, didn't respond. "Hey!" She knew that politeness would not get her far here. Finally removing the newspaper she was faced with the guard's sweaty face and hat that was too small for his head. "George Krevon?" she asked.

"Ehm." The guard pointed with his thumb to the left.

"Thanks." Elizabeth nodded and entered the left corridor. It was another narrow corridor with a few office doors. Elizabeth soon found the one with the director's name on it. Finding it already open, she came inside. A middle-aged man with gray mustache and hair sat behind the desk, looking at some papers. "Mr. Krevon?" she asked.

The man looked up at her and smiled. "Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Dr. Elizabeth We-"

"Oh, doctor!" George chuckled and immediately stood up. He took her hand and squeezed it a little tightly, forcing Elizabeth to wince unnoticeably. The man had a strong grip.

When he let go, Elizabeth slowly wrapped her left hand around her right, rubbing it gently. She was slightly surprised to find him dressed in shorts and a red t-shirt, along with some sandals. Being used to suits, shirts and ties, this was different for her.

Noticing this, George chuckled again. "It's more comfortable this way." His accent was slightly easier on the ears compared to the previous encounters.

"And with this climate, it's understandable," she replied.

"Have a seat?" he pointed to the chair in front of her.

"Thank you," Elizabeth pulled it up and then sat down.

"We wondered if you would manage here, doctor, not a lot of foreigners do."

"Since I'm sitting here in front of you…" she shrugged and chuckled.

"Yes, I was told of your previous experiences in Asia and Europe."

"They have taught me a lot of things."

"Experience is always valuable. Reading books is good but being out in the field is invaluable – something you prefer as well, I'm told."

"You were told correctly. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your expedition team."

The man was surprised by this. "Oh, no, doctor, you won't be going with us."

Elizabeth blinked. "Excuse me?"

"We are excavating the Small Bell now."

"The Small Bell? Still? But that's only the beginning of the city."

"We are as surprised as you. We weren't expecting to find so many artifacts and rooms in that small part alone."

"Oh, so am I allowed to enter the Southern Wing then?"

"Unfortunately no. At least, not for now."

"Where does that leave me?"

"You will be taken by a guide to the Northern Wing."

"The Northern Wing?" She had not been expecting that offer. "But I was told there is not much to be explored there, it is almost barren."

"We think it is enough for now," he responded.

"It's enough for tourists to start walking all over the place; I expected to be presented with a challenge, quite frankly."

"We prefer to… 'comb' as you say, the city ourselves before letting archeologists from other countries have a look at it."

"I see." She couldn't hide her disappointment, hopeful for the much richer Southern Wing of the city. "But wouldn't our expertise be valuable in an ongoing dig?"

"We have a capable team of archeologist here, doctor. Our school of Ancient Knowledge or… Archeology as it is known in other places, is our proud and joy."

Elizabeth nodded. She had been expecting to be handed a piece of the cake, but all she got were a few measly crumbs. Still, it had been better than nothing. It was she who sought their permission to explore parts of the Bronze City in the first place. Although she was aware of the Krolevan authorities' reputation of refusing foreign experts in the field of archeology, Elizabeth had hoped they would make a small exception with her. They allowed her to come so that had been sufficient for her. She did not want to get greedy right at the beginning.

"Let me just check on a few things," George said and picked up the phone.

While waiting, Elizabeth looked around the small office with yellow walls. She noticed a few bookshelves stacked with thick books. Some were in English, Russian, German, Chinese, Italian, and others in Delonian although those were only a handful. There was a small fan on a chair next to the desk, a few framed photographs of George with his family and some colleagues. Two green curtains were almost covering the window behind George. She found no artifacts however; not even replicas.

"Alright." George put the phone down and then took a notepad. He scribbled something down on it. "This is the name of your guide and the address where you can find him." He tore off the paper and handed it to Elizabeth.

"John Sheppard? Sounds -"

"Not local?" George laughed. "He's from the United States or your neighbor, in a way."

"Okay… I could use a translator. Now about my guide…."

"He is your guide." Seeing her doubtful expression, he continued, "He's done his fair share of… exploring, so he'll know where to take you."

"He's reliable?"

"Yes, doctor," he said and nodded.

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Krevon."

"Call me George." He smiled.

Elizabeth nodded to the side. "So I can meet with him tomorrow?"

"It is advisable that you meet him today."

His tone struck her as strange. "A-lright…" Reading the address again, Elizabeth sighed. _Let's find this John Sheppard_, she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

The address that George gave her led Elizabeth to a police station. Knitting her eyebrows in confusion, Elizabeth stepped inside. "A cop?" she wondered. 

She was soon met by loud yelling between a couple and one of the police officers. Gingerly she approached the desk and waited, feeling that any interruption on her part could throw some of that yelling and anger her way. Elizabeth scanned the small police station, hoping to find another officer that could help her but those that she saw were busy with suspects or other work. The building itself had dark green walls, the corners were decorated with crossed knifes and a spear that resembled some of the ones she saw in the museum. Turning back to the three, she could almost see the officer's face turning bright red; the brown eyes threatening to pop out of his eye sockets. She pressed her lips and hoped this man wasn't the one she was looking for. Then he finally noticed her, his gaze slightly cooler. Eyeing her up, he noticed that she wasn't a local.

"American?" he said with his broken English.

"Recently Canadian," Elizabeth replied.

The man turned his face back to the couple and continued arguing with them.

Elizabeth exhaled and wished she had at least brought a portable fan with her or some other device to keep her cool. Air-conditioners were scarce here it seemed. She had seen worse.

She decided to wait out the argument as last time she was bold enough to interrupt such a scene in a south-eastern European country, she had been this close to an actual physical assault by one of the parties. She looked at her watch where ten minutes had passed. Elizabeth pushed herself away from the desk and began pacing around the hall. She looked at the map of the country that was on the wall and decided to study it to kill some time. Delonia was not a large country and not a well known one.

"Canadian!" she heard the man call to her. Turning around, she was approached by the officer. "What you need?" he asked with a rough voice.

"I was told I could find a John Sheppard here."

"Sheppard?" the man snorted like he was familiar with that name. "Come," he said and turned around.

She followed him through another small corridor that ended with a red door. He pointed to the door and then left.

"Okay," Elizabeth approached the door and heard muffed voices from the other side. Instead of knocking she pushed the door slowly aside. There was a wooden table and a chair; a faint light emerging from the lamp close to the ceiling. Standing on one side of the table was another police officer while on the other side was a man dressed in a colorful shirt and white pants… sandals included. His ruffled black hair and slight beard should've made him appear like a local but he seemed different, especially when he started talking in English. Fluent English.

"Look, I probably did take a few, but they were for my own, _private_ collection. I wasn't going to smuggle them out of the country!" he said.

_It had to be him_, Elizabeth thought.

The officer leaned forward with his hands on the table.

"You are lying," the officer said in Delonian.

"Oh please. I've been here enough times, Jojo for you to know that."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Jojo?" she whispered and chuckled quietly. She leaned on the doorway and crossed her arms, listening to the interrogation for some minutes. John Sheppard, if that was him, seemed relaxed, almost as if he really had been here so many times that this had been routine for him.

"John Sheppard?" she called.

Both men turned to the woman leaning in the doorway.

"Visitor? What you need?" the officer asked bleakly.

"Well, I am looking for a John Sheppard. I was told I could find him here."

The accused sitting on the chair smirked and looked back at the officer. "See?" he said.

"American?"

Elizabeth was tempted to roll her eyes. "Canadian," she responded.

"Someone always comes to get me out," John said with a smug.

The officer turned to him. "Another girlfriend of yours?" he asked suspiciously.

John simply shrugged.

The officer grumbled. "Don't let me warn you again!" he pointed with his finger at John.

"I'll try to stay out of trouble, Jojo," John replied and stood up. He then approached Elizabeth with a charming smile. Surprising the stranger by putting his arm around her waist, he whispered closely to her. "Go along with it," he said with what sounded like a plea. He then hugged Elizabeth. "Thanks for coming, sugar!" he spoke loudly and then embraced her.

"Oh, ah…. Yeah, someone had to get you out of here," Elizabeth reluctantly agreed.

John looked back at her again with that same smile. "Let's go home," he said, putting his arm around her.

"Whatever you say…_sugar_." Elizabeth responded with her arm around his waist.

When they finally walked out, and then distanced themselves from the police station, John looked behind him and then removed his arm from her. "I owe you a thanks," he said and looked at Elizabeth.

"You also owe yourself a shower," she said.

He pulled his shoulders back. "Yeah I'm overdo for one."

"So, you are John Sheppard?"

John nodded to this.

"George Krevon recommended you to me," she said.

"Ah, good old George. Haven't seen him in the last few weeks. How is he?"

"Busy, I'd say." Elizabeth pulled out her hand. "I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir by the way."

"Okay." He took her hand and shook it gently, his green eyes smiling at her, amused by her formal greeting. "How can I help you?"

"Guide," she replied.

"Oh, right. Bronze City?"

Elizabeth titled her head. "Yes, I was told you knew your way around the area."

"Well, I've been there a few times," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Good, as I need to be taken to the Northern Wing."

He smirked. "There's nothing there," John said.

"Apparently that's the only place I have permission to go to."

"Apparently. How does tomorrow sound?"

"Suitable," she replied. The way he studied her face, he probably noticed the tiredness on hers.

"You still need to shake off that jetlag," he noted.

He noticed.

"Yeah, the trip was tiring."

"Nothing compared to what you'll go through here," he said.

That sounded less than promising. "Well as far as traveling inside the countries is concerned – I've seen my hellish times."

"You've done this before?"

"I'm an archeologist, Mr. Sheppard…. And a negotiator at times."

"Oh that kind of doctor," he teased.

"Yes, _that_ kind. So what do I need to bring for tomorrow?"

"Just a good pair of pants and boots," he told her.

"That's pretty optimistic."

"You don't need much. Where are you staying?"

"The Cherry Blossom."

"Fancy," he said.

Elizabeth chuckled. "You'll stop at the hotel then?"

"I'll be sitting in the lobby drinking my glass of martini," he joked.

Oh he'll be an interesting character to accompany her on this journey. "Fine. What time?"

"Five."

"Morning?"

"Yes."

"You got it."

Walking away from John, she heard him shout out. "Thanks for getting me out of there." Elizabeth turned to this and smiled. "Oh, it wasn't me. Thank your friend George," she replied and raised her eyebrows at him.

John crossed his arms, watching her walk away. First time he had to drag along a tourist like her. He'd give her five hours into the trip before she quit. Archeologist or not.

* * *

Although Elizabeth had gone to bed early to get enough sleep, she nearly overslept the following morning. John Sheppard was found in the lobby as he promised but instead of a martini he had an apple with him. "Healthier," he later explained. 

They walked for around an hour toward the entrance of the jungle where John's choice of transportation was supposed to be waiting for them. With his hands in his pockets and quick steps, he hadn't said much nor had Elizabeth. For one, he knew she must've been still groggy and the warm air at that hour hadn't helped much to awaken her properly without some side effects such as the grogginess. The way he was dressed, he reminded her of Indiana Jones without the leather jacket and whip.

On their way, they passed some small shops and modest houses, and in many of them, Elizabeth noticed a few young women greeting John… friendlier than she expected. She received the impression that he had his fair share of female skin in this town, and if he had pulled that charm like he had with her in the police station, as Elizabeth was pretty certain he had, then she should not be surprised by the attention.

"Quite the Casanova, are you…." Elizabeth said with a smirk.

"They're very hospitable people," John replied.

"I'm sure they are." Elizabeth glanced at him before noticing his return with a faint smile.

Elizabeth had listened to John's advice and put on a good pair of boots and pants, not to mention appropriate clothing for the upper part of the body. She originally appeared with a much larger backpack but was greeted with a strange look by John and a comment that they would need to hire a mule to carry whatever she had in that giant backpack of hers. Reconsidering, Elizabeth emptied most of the contents and left in only the most basic and necessary things. Now, walking in this heat she was grateful to herself for reconsidering.

As they reached the entrance of the jungle, she saw two horses and an older man with a white beard and straw hat waiting for them. "Our transportation, I take it," Elizabeth guessed.

"That's right," John replied. He thanked the older man and then patted the black horse on the neck. "This is Orlando. And that…" he turned to the other side, where a white one stood. ".. is Lilly."

"My horse?"

"Yup."

"How appropriate," Elizabeth smiled and patted Lilly's head gently. She was then given a boost by John and climbed onto the horse's back.

After John mounted his horse, he said goodbye to the older man and came in front of Elizabeth.

"Lead the way, Sheppard," Elizabeth told him.

John glanced behind him and smiled. "As long as you follow, doc," he told her. Five hours tops.

It hadn't been the first time that Elizabeth Weir had had the chance to visit the jungle, so much of this was already familiar to her. Observing the green vegetation and the occasional sighting of an animal, bird or insect, Elizabeth asked, "So, what was the reason you were in that police station?"

"Oh, they think I steal valuable artifacts," he replied nonchalantly.

Elizabeth looked at him, or the back of his head anyway. "Do you?"

"Stealing, in their terms, would be me trying to smuggle the items out of the country, which is not what I do. Therefore, no, I don't steal."

"What do you do then?"

"I find some trinkets that are pretty and keep them."

"Where?"

"My home."

"And that's not stealing?"

"Nope."

"If this was somewhere else, you wouldn't get away with just a slap on the wrist." She heard him laugh.

"Probably."

A white and blue bird suddenly flew past Elizabeth's eyes, catching her gaze where it landed on a branch. "Beautiful," she said.

John glanced at the bird. "Yeah, there are a lot of them here. You'll find some unique species."

"Mm. It isn't recommendable to go by foot?"

"Not on the trail that we'll be using," he replied when they approached a narrow, mountain path.

Looking down, she could barely tell the end of the fall. Elizabeth never had a fear of heights; she had done her share of BASE jumping and bungee jumping. But the site of this was enough to give anyone a headache. Still, she glanced down more than a few times out of curiosity. "What brought you to this town?" she asked, while looking down.

"I wanted to get away from the crap in the States. Kroleva seemed like a perfect place for me."

"What drove you away from the there?"

"I don't recall us to be good friends, doc for me to share secrets of the past with you," he replied.

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment. "Fair enough."

"What about you? Isn't Egypt enough for you archeologist types?"

"Believe it or not, it isn't."

"Of course. Who can resist being among the first if not _the first_ to uncover the secrets of a lost city."

Elizabeth chuckled. "The challenge is too great. I had hoped to get the chance to explore the Southern Wing with the first team but it didn't happen."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"How did they allow you to come here in the first place? I know the government is pretty stingy about allowing foreign scientists to even have a peak of the city in person."

"I managed to convince them."

"You must've done one hell of a job."

"I know," Elizabeth said chuckled. "My father told me that if I hadn't chosen archeology, I would've made a damn good diplomat."

"A damn good diplomat who couldn't convince them to see the Southern Wing?"

"I actually didn't try. I didn't want to seem too demanding."

"Smart enough," John replied.

Elizabeth took another glimpse of the steep slope. "You've been up and down this path often?"

"Oh yeah." He turned around to see her. "You're not acrophobic, are you?"

Elizabeth looked back at him. "No. Just admiring the view."

There was a certain sparkle in her eyes that John noticed at the mention of heights. Perhaps he'd give her an extra hour.

"Not many tourists use this path?"

"No tourist has. Not that I know of anyway."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "We are going to the Northern Wing, right?"

John smirked and returned his gaze to the front. "We're going somewhere," he replied.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," she told him.

"Don't worry, doc. I _am_ taking you to the city!" John said.

Elizabeth hoped he was telling the truth.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

Two hours later, they finally reached the other side of the mountain. John advised them to stop as the horses could use the rest and they weren't the only ones. 

She shivered slightly at the colder temperature. Putting on her jacket, she rubbed her hands and then crossed her arms. Elizabeth walked over almost to the edge and watched the fog settle close to the trees. It was a beautiful sight. She could even make out shapes emerging from the fog. She caught horses, a feather, a flame, even an eye.

Meanwhile, John was securing the horses and throwing a glance Elizabeth's way from time to time. "What did you catch?" he asked.

Elizabeth turned her face of confusion toward him.

"The shapes in the fog," he explained.

"Oh." She turned back to the fog. "I think a feather and some horses."

Zipping up his jacket, John walked over to stand beside her. "Impressive. I just got a sheep and a flower my first time."

Elizabeth chuckled. "A sheep? Homage to your name, you think?" she teased.

He threw a joking glare her way. "The best one was an eagle."

"_That's_ impressive."

John smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I hope it's alright that I ask what you did for a living before coming here?"

"A ski instructor."

Elizabeth returned her gaze to the fog. "I shouldn't ask what your hobbies used to be then."

"I liked the outdoors. Still do."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at his reply.

"And what does an archeologist do in her spare time? If she has any."

"She does. And she enjoys the occasional BASE jumping."

"BASE jumping? That's pretty extreme."

"The need for it kicks in from time to time."

He was intrigued. Perhaps he underestimated this woman. John turned to her. "What else?"

"For now that remains the only alternative for me. I don't have the luxury of spare time that I once enjoyed," she admitted. Elizabeth could feel the curious look he was giving her despite her face being adverted to the view in front of her. She finally turned to him. "You didn't think all archeologists sat in little dark rooms dusting away and admiring a piece of earring for days, did you?"

"Well… maybe not for _days_," he replied.

She could tell this man was in his thirties, probably late thirties but his attitude and particularly that boyish look with which he said the last sentence made him seem much younger.

* * *

Continuing their trip, the two made their way through a small but beautiful green meadow. The grass was tall enough for Elizabeth to run her hand through it. The flowers were poor with color and with some you could barely notice they existed, but the beautiful scent made up for that.

It was like a pleasant perfume. Elizabeth inhaled and closed her eyes to enjoy the unique feel.

Passing the meadow, they entered another small forest. The path soon led them to a small settlement with a handful of small wooden houses. Its inhabitants, only different in their modest clothing of red and yellow, appeared to not notice the visitors or they simply gave no thought of their arrival; but a little boy and girl ran up to the two and started shouting something to John.

He laughed the moment the youngsters started pulling on his leg, trying to get him down. "Okay, okay! Calm down!"

Elizabeth watched as he got off the horse with a small bag in his hands. He pulled out two bundles from it and gave one to each of the children. Giggling, they took the bundles and then ran off with them. When he noticed Elizabeth's look, John chuckled and raised his hands. "I'm like Santa to these two," he said.

Elizabeth smiled and jumped to the ground.

They were soon approached by a young woman with the red dress made of silk and the wooden sandals on her feet, her belly showing her pregnancy. "Jon!" She called to the man.

"Ah, Maya!" John greeted the woman and embraced her.

With her braided, light brown hair, and friendly eyes, Maya saw Elizabeth. "_You brought a visitor_," she said in Delonian.

"_Oh, this is Elizabeth_," he introduced the newcomer like an old friend. "Elizabeth, this is Maya."

Maya nodded slowly, clapping twice with her hands. Assuming that to be their way of greeting strangers, Elizabeth imitated the woman's gestures.

"_You must be hungry_," Maya asked. "_We cooked the Blue Devil today._"

"_My kind of meal_." John grinned. "Feeling hungry?" he then asked Elizabeth.

"I could use a bite or two," Elizabeth replied.

"Okay, just follow Maya and I'll take care of the horses here," he told her.

Elizabeth agreed and went after the young woman.

She was brought inside one of the houses. A thick, woolen rug greeted her; the bright red and yellow colors almost devouring her eyes. Maya then pointed to her boots and shook her head. Elizabeth understood and began removing them. It was warmer here so she felt easier about doing so. Afterwards, Maya disappeared again, perhaps to gather some needed things.

When Elizabeth's feet touched they surface of the rug, they immediately sunk in it. The interior of the house looked much bigger than the exterior. Grasping the handles of her backpack, she could see a small ladder leading to the second floor. This room appeared large but simple. There were four big bundles of white wool – two on the left side and two on the right. In the middle was another, much smaller white rug with an image of a black bat woven into it. Elizabeth found that image interesting.

On each wall she saw small nets filled with flower and pieces of grass. The smell of fried fish also reached her. She stood in her place, unsure whether to sit or not and if she was supposed to sit, then where?

When Maya emerged again, she had two large bronze dishes with her – each filled with food. She placed them on the white rug and then motioned to Elizabeth to sit down.

Accepting the invitation, Elizabeth sat on one of the bundles. After the hours spent in the saddle, this soft surface was a welcomed change to her tush. Setting the backpack next to her, she crossed her legs and looked at the dishes in front of her. One was filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, strangely mixed together, while the other one had what looked like fish, boiled rice and potatoes. The fish though appeared large, almost the size of her arm; she couldn't make out the color that had been lost during the cooking, but she noticed the crossed eyes and the traces of spikes around the fins and mouth that had been removed. Two bronze cups and a jug were also brought in. Maya then placed a large green leaf on each side. When Elizabeth looked up at the woman, Maya smiled kindly back at her. "Elizbet?" she asked as if to make certain she remembered her name.

Elizabeth nodded at Maya with a smile. "Yes." She wished so badly to begin a conversation with her but she cursed not knowing any other word apart from Thank You.

Just then John entered the house. "That's done with," he said and then sat down opposite Elizabeth. "Ah, the Blue Devil!" He took Maya's hand and squeezed it. "_You always know how to make the best meals_," he told her.

Maya giggled. "_Somehow I had a feeling you would come today_. _But I was not aware you would bring a woman with you_." She glanced at Elizabeth.

"_She's a history seeker_."

"_Oh! An outsider_?" Maya was surprised.

John nodded and looked back at Elizabeth.

"What did you say?" Elizabeth asked.

"I just told her what you do," he replied.

Elizabeth was met with a curious look from Maya. "Should she be standing like that in her state?" she asked with worry.

As if understanding Elizabeth's question, Maya took out a larger bundle of wool and sat down on it.

"How do you manage by yourself?" Elizabeth asked her in English, relying on John for translation.

"Oh she's not alone. Her husband goes regularly to the town to sell fruit," John replied instead.

"First child?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. I attended the wedding ceremony last year," he told her.

"You know them well?"

"I've passed through here a lot of times."

"_Is she your wife?_" Maya asked him.

John chuckled. "_No, we only met yesterday_."

"_You have the same eyes. Amazing_."

"_So do a lot of other people_."

"_But it could be a good omen_."

"_I don't know, Maya. We don't have the same customs. We don't choose our life partners because of the same eye color_."

"Yes_, but… maybe, Jon_." She smiled at him.

John shook his head. "_Don't go there. I'm not ready for marriage_."

Maya giggled. "_Is the fish good_?" she then asked Elizabeth.

With the help of John, Elizabeth understood Maya's question. "It's delicious." She wasn't lying. The meat was tender and juicy and the few spices added to it made it even better.

They spent the next few hours talking about the region and the history it had. Elizabeth was amazed by some of the knowledge that the Mountain Krolevans - as they were called, had of this place and some of the legends that swirled around it. Maya's soft voice and patience made the conversations truly enjoyable and it helped that the way John had been translating was just as easy-going. In the end it felt like three old friends sitting down over a meal and talking. It had been a pleasant atmosphere, so much so that she barely noticed the darkness which was falling outside.

When they finally noticed, both soon agreed that it would be better to spend the night here and continue in the morning.

* * *

This time a chicken running past her face awoke Elizabeth. The startle and dust made her sneeze.

"Bless you!" he said. Turning to the other side with the woolen blanket over her, Elizabeth saw him sitting down, rubbing his neck. "Morning. Sure beats an alarm clock, doesn't it." He grinned.

"You mean a chicken nearly colliding with my face?" Her voice sounded rougher. By the look of his face, John had been awake for at least an hour. He appeared fresher than she. "What time is it?"

"Um, I'm guessing around five," he replied.

Elizabeth pushed the blanket away, and shivered when the wave of cold air hit her. It had been a very cold night but this one blanket made it exceptionally warm for her. She contemplated buying one on her way back.

"Got enough sleep?" he asked her as he put on his jacket.

"I think so," she replied.

"Good. We have a two-hour trek waiting for us today."

"What about the horses?" she asked.

"They'll stay here."

After being treated to breakfast by Maya, they set off on the trek. The uphill climb through the forest was a tough one and had they both not been in excellent shape, it would've been murderous. Almost three hours later they reached the opening of a cave. As she stood there, looking at the black entrance, Elizabeth tapped her foot. "And this is?"

"The way to the Southern Wing."

Elizabeth was flabbergasted. "Come again?"

"You wanted to see it, right?" He saw her nod. "Well, then." He motioned toward the cave.

"You're saying this cave leads to the Southern Wing," she sounded doubtful.

"Haven't you come across some whacky entrances to ancient ruins in your experience?"

"Uh, sort of."

"Okay then." He removed the bag from his back and opened it. John pulled out two protective helmets. At her look, he added,

"Just in case."

"I thought your job was to take me to the Northern Wing," she said whilst securing the helmet.

"Doc, if George had wanted you to really see the Northern Wing instead of the Southern one, he wouldn't have recommended me as your guide," John responded and pulled out a flashlight. "Now, coming?" he asked.

Elizabeth smiled. "Oh yeah," her eagerness surprised even herself.

As they stepped inside the dark cave, the smell of animal droppings hit Elizabeth's nostrils hard. "Are there any bats in this cave by any chance?" she asked.

"Yeah, quite a lot of them."

The next step she took, Elizabeth felt her foot sink in a thick mass. Pointing her flashlight to the spot, she saw her boot being almost devoured in the brown mass. "Well aren't I lucky today. My foot is in bat poo," she spoke sarcastically. "And I thought the idea for the boots was only for the trek."

"I should've mentioned it," John said and she knew he was grinning. "You'll be walking through tons of it soon, don't worry."

"It's comforting knowing I won't be the only one." Elizabeth passed with the light by John's face.

As they continued, Elizabeth could also hear the sounds of the small creatures that were the contributors of this fertilizer. She would scan the walls of the cave and see several bats; some even with younglings. "It's amazing knowing that these small creatures could build an entire eco system."

"You know a thing about bats?"

"Very little. I do remember seeing a documentary once on National Geographic about a remote bat cave in Africa. It was incredible."

"And so is this fertilizer. The people here could make but-loads of money from it."

"Are they aware of its value?"

"They are. They just don't want to disturb the flow of life here."

"Ah, something we are doing right now?"

"I meant not remove the droppings because of the value they have in this cave and what they mean for the other things that live here."

"I see their point. And how many times have you been through here?" The next step she took almost swallowed her entire leg in the droppings. "Crap!"

"Crap is right." John laughed and took Elizabeth's hand to pull her out. "Three times."

"What?"

"That's how many times I've passed through this cave."

As they continued, Elizabeth sneezed again.

"Bless you."

"Thanks. How did you find out that it leads to the Southern Wing?"

"By accident. I like exploring here."

"You've come to know this region well, huh?"

"Why I became a guide," he replied and then stopped at what seemed like a dead end. He touched a rock on the wall and then pressed the rock into the wall. The wall in front of them suddenly opened.

Their flashlights came across a small opening with a very low ceiling, too low in fact, for them to be able to walk through. "Now, we crawl," he said.

Getting down on their hands and knees, the two started crawling through the small opening. Long cobwebs on the way and other states of the walls, made it obvious how seldom this area had been visited; the spiders on those cobwebs were a pale red and yellow color – one of them even having its lunch in a form of a tiny six-legged bug when Elizabeth passed it. They took a left turn, and five minutes later another left turn. "How long is this corridor?" she asked.

"We're almost there," he told her.

The dusty ground beneath her palms appeared itchy at times and caused her to sneeze again.

"Bless you."

"Thanks."

"Catching a cold?"

"No, it's all the dust; which if funny, considering I'm in it constantly at digs."

John chuckled. "As long as you don't have any allergies."

"Thank God, I don't," she replied. "I haven't sneezed before like this during work."

"Should that be worrying?"

"No, it's just annoying."

"Actually, it's cute."

Elizabeth wanted to look up at his face but his rear got into a better focus instead. "Cute!"

"Yeah, the way you sneeze – it's cute."

"First time a man complemented me on my sneezing," she said.

Elizabeth couldn't make out the view in front of her as John's body had been blocking it almost entirely. "There." She heard him say.

Moving closer to the left side of the wall, John held his flashlight straight forward and nodded toward the end of the corridor.

Finally shimming through the even smaller opening, Elizabeth was thankful for her slender figure. In the room where they emerged there was, of course, absence of light. The only things that were keeping them from becoming totally blind in the darkness had been their flashlights. She felt the floor being smooth before sprinting on her feet.

"Here we are," he said.

"This is the Southern Wing?"

"This is it. Unless the translations were wrong."

Elizabeth began scanning the wide hallway with her flashlight. It appeared to be a giant room with a door on the other end. There were no drawings on the wall but she saw tapestries on every available space instead. The ones she managed to have a closer look at had colors of red, green, blue and black; and many of them were filled with ancient texts. There was a small number of images on the tapestries, the rest though were only words, words and words.

"Amazing," she said.

"Yeah."

"Has anyone else been in here?" she asked.

"Just you and me."

Elizabeth looked at him. "No one else stepped in here? Not even from the museum?"

"They are aware of the location but no one has had a chance to visit it yet."

"Why?"

"They like to take their time," he replied.

"Huh." Elizabeth returned her light on the tapestries. "This is truly amazing. Oh, I wish it was lighter in here," she said quietly.

"There are more rooms," he told her.

"Care to lead again?" Elizabeth asked, looking at the beautiful handwork on the walls. Hearing the sound of a rock moving, she pointed the flashlight toward the source and saw John standing next to an opened stone door. The shape of the doorframe resembled a tree leaf painted in green. Giving another look at the tapestries, Elizabeth then walked over to her guide.

Entering the next room, she found the size to be similar to the first one but instead of tapestries there were stone shelves on each wall filled with pottery. She couldn't help but feel highly privileged to be only the second human being to set foot in here after five thousand years when the Bronze City came to its end. In her view, this city had only been in slumber, waiting for the new generation of explorers to awake it and return it to life once again.

The different vases, pots, glasses, and other objects were painted with bright red and black colors and carefully placed on these shelves. They took great care of their belongings, Elizabeth had been aware of this even from documents she studied before coming to Kroleva. What happened to these people? Why did they abandon this city?

In the same darkness she was then led by John through two more rooms of pottery. When he opened the fifth door, John stepped aside. "After you," he said with a smile.

"Thank you." When she stepped into the next room, it wasn't the smooth stone plates that she had gotten used to by now, but something very familiar. Looking down, she frowned. "Bat droppings?" Elizabeth quickly turned her flashlight behind her where John stood, laughing quietly. "Very funny," she said flatly.

John shrugged and snickered.

Looking ahead, she noticed the empty room.

"I didn't venture beyond that."

"Why's that?"

"I just realized I didn't have much time left before sunset so I decided to head back."

"And how much time do _we_ have before sunset?"

"Uh, nine hours."

"Enough time for a start." Elizabeth took another step further.

"You wanna continue?" he sounded surprised.

"Well, yeah," Elizabeth replied as she made her way through.

"You sure it's a good idea?" John asked her.

"Why?"

"It's just that we have no idea how big this place is."

"Just a few more peeks, Mr. Sheppard!" Elizabeth was already to the other side of the room when she shouted.

"I would advise us to not go further than this!" John had to shout back so she could hear him better.

"You could go back if you want!"

"You can't make it back to the village by yourself!"

"So come on then!"

John glanced back and exhaled. He knew it was against his better judgment to take this step. "Two more hours and then we turn back!"

"Two more! You got it!" Elizabeth turned around, looking for a handle or some other way of opening the next door. When she felt that John had approached her and was standing behind her, she asked, "So, how does this one open?"

"Tried to push?"

"Of course, the simplest methods always come to mind last." Elizabeth leaned on the door and tried to push. Nothing. John offered his assistance but the door remained in its place. "You think it opens on the other side?"

"It's possible."

Elizabeth felt a bit disappointed by this. Surely there was another way. The Southern Wing had been described as one of the most beautiful parts of the City in the scrolls. So far what Elizabeth saw partly justified that description but she was sure there was more and something much better.

Rubbing the back of her hand against her forehead, Elizabeth exhaled. "Maybe you're right." The moment she said this, the floor beneath their feet suddenly crumbled. "What-" Before they could escape, both fell through the cracked opening into the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

The fall was brief but the uncertainty of where they would land shook them good. A net of roots and plants cut their fall short of possible death. Unfortunately they had lost their flashlights in the fall and now the only ones remaining were those on their helmets. Catching their breaths with the intense beating of their hearts, both tried to make sense of where they had landed.

"You okay?" John asked, looking down at her.

Gripping on the vines, Elizabeth looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I think so. You?"

"Alive, that's something," he responded.

"Do we try to climb up?"

"I've got a feeling we won't reach very high," he told her.

Hearing a sound of glass breaking, they soon saw the place around them light up. It appeared one of the flashlights had triggered some sort of lighting mechanism with a series of torches being lit one by one. Of course what the light revealed wasn't very comforting: a giant room filled with devices used for torture.

"You know, this resembles a torture chamber," John said.

Elizabeth appeared even more unpleasantly surprised by this. "In the scrolls it said that they didn't believe in inflicting any kind of physical pain to people..."

"Well, these things certainly send a different message."

"So does this," Elizabeth said and pointed below them. A small square surface made of sharp spikes stood just underneath them.

"Oh boy."

To make matters worse at the moment, the vines started to slowly give in to the weight of the two. "Oh no."

"Okay, so obviously, now we need to find a way to jump away from these vines and hopefully not straight down to those spikes," John said.

"And how do we do that?" Elizabeth started searching for ways to find a good solution with John, and so far nothing caught their eye, which wasn't good news, as they could hear the breaking of the vines more and more.

"There!" John then shouted and she saw him pointing to a thick, vertical metal pole. Two thin chains hung from it, ending just a couple of centimeters from another, smaller surface with shorter spikes.

"There? There are spikes _there_!"

"They're less dangerous than the ones below us. It's worth the risk!"

One of the lines snapped, lowering them slightly.

"We swing, jump, grab on pole and or chain and then lower ourselves enough to swing on those chains and on to the safe floor."

"You make it sound like it's a bloody video game!"

Instead of a reply, John began swinging on the vines. Elizabeth soon had to join in. "On three we jump."

Another vine snapped.

"Make that one. Jump!" John shouted and then took a leap along with Elizabeth toward the pole.

The pole was missed but they caught the chains. The final vines broke and fell on the spikes behind John and Elizabeth. "Just in time," John breathed out.

Elizabeth looked up at the top of the chains, hoping they were strong enough to hold them for a while. "Ready to swing again, ma'am?" he asked her as if inviting her for a dance.

"Yes I am," Elizabeth accepted the 'invitation' and began swinging on the chains along with him. A jump followed and both landed on the, this time hopefully, solid ground.

Elizabeth looked at her reddish hands and the burning sensation she felt inside them served her right for forgetting to pull her gloves out from her backpack.

"And was anything like this torture chamber mentioned in the scrolls?" John asked, looking around.

"Nothing," then added a quieter, "ow".

John heard this. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just my hands are a little warm."

John smirked. "I didn't tell you to wear gloves?" She made a face of what John could tell was a pout.

"I didn't expect to go all ape and swing around the place," she replied. "And no, you didn't tell me that," Elizabeth reminded him.

The flickering light of the torches gave a warmer feel to an otherwise disturbing room. From what she could tell there were twenty different devices;so much for her belief of the Ancient Krolevans being a people who didn't believe in torture.

"These are some pretty gruesome methods of forcing information or whatever out of a prisoner," John said observing the devices. "They make the ones from medieval times look like kids toys."

"I knew the Ancient Krolevans had enemies but…" Elizabeth spoke with a slight disturbance in her voice.

"Maybe the majority of the population was not aware this room existed."

"It could be."

"No civilization in human history consisted only of saints. And this is after all five-thousand and more years old."

"I know, but I had hoped that these people would be an exception. But I see _this_…." She pointed to the devices.

"It does raise questions."

John scratched his chin. "What else do you know about them?"

"Not much. They were mostly interested in art and literature. The Bronze City itself was a mystery up until six months ago. And _that_ was discovered from the clues found in the Little Bell ruins. So far no one knows what the City looks like, apart from the Northern Wing."

Elizabeth then remembered something and quickly took off her backpack. She pulled out a small case where her camera had been, praying it hadn't been damaged. Giving a smile of relief, she saw that it remained intact. Pointing it toward the devices, she began taking pictures of each along with some video footage.

John in the mean time surveyed the place, looking for the exit. He spotted another leaf-shaped outline in one of the corners. Coming closer to it, he noticed the deep grooves. Touching the groove, he then started following it, hoping to find a crack or something to open this. He came to the middle of the potential door and noticed a small switch. Moving it slightly down opened the door, he looked up at one of the torches. It was placed pretty high and out of their reach, but John felt it would be better to have one instead of relying only on those small flashlights on their helmets. "We could use one of these before we continue further," he said.

"How do we get one?" Elizabeth asked.

He considered using some of the torture devices but not many of them seemed movable and those few that did appeared far too dangerous to handle, especially with the minimum protection he and Elizabeth had. "If we can't get to it… maybe we could bring it to us."

Elizabeth looked at the brown wall. She knocked on the surface and a chunk of rock fell on the ground next to her. She earned a strange look from him. "Accident!" Elizabeth replied innocently.

John smirked and then picked up the rock. Aiming it, he then threw it at the metal cup that held the torch. It didn't budge.

Five attempts later it finally fell to the ground.

"Let's go," he told her.

When they exited the chamber, narrow stairs greeted them. It made sense that something so hideous would be in the lower levels, away from the attention and view of the citizens.

* * *

Once they reached the top of the stairs and passed through another corridor, they came to a narrow street. Elizabeth could see yellow pavements, some strange markings on the ground of the street in the middle, but the walls were the ones which got her attention the most; every inch had been made of bronze. Large square blocks, up to fifty feet high… but due to the absence of better lighting, she wondered if they were taller. Tapestries made of yellow and black string, each two meters tall, were placed on the walls. Images of people doing chores were presented on the tapestries, looking so real as if they had been photographs. "Mr. Sheppard…" she called. 

"Yeah, explains the name of the city now."

"I was referring more to the tapestries. The images are incredibly realistic," Elizabeth sounded amazed. "Each…" she gently took John's arm holding the torch, and began moving it along the walls with the tapestries. "Each one has words…explanations for the images. Like this one." She stopped and looked up at a tapestry that showed a man and a woman holding a child over a stream. "Every child brought to this world is taken to the Beginner's River to be blessed by its waters."

John observed the images of the people whilst Elizabeth explained the meaning. The details were outstanding: he could even tell the materials of what their clothing had been made of, or were supposed to represent. The red and yellow were prominent here; the faces not at all different from the Krolevans of today. He could clearly see the loving expressions on the parents' faces for the child in their arms. "Wow, the details are…"

"Incredible, I know." Elizabeth was in awe as she observed these pieces. The constant awareness that she was having the privilege to be the first archeologist to step inside the city and look at its artistic treasures made it difficult for her to conceal her excitement; not that she had wanted to. Moving along the many tapestries, she then stopped at one of a man and a woman holding hands and looking at each other, both dressed in fine, silver-painted clothing. "A wedding ceremony – one of the… _most_ sacred and treasured rituals among the Krolevans."

Although Elizabeth, who began recording the findings, was engulfed in the bliss of such discovery, John was more concerned of a possible exit nearby.

"This must have taken them a great amount of time and effort to finish each tapestry," Elizabeth said.

"Aha. I bet," John replied almost absently, as he moved the light away to scan the rest of the area.

"Hey!" Elizabeth protested to the sudden absence of proper lighting.

"This is awesome and all, doc, but I'd prefer to know where the exit is around here before I can indulge into countless and," he glanced back at her, "_countless_ hours of studying what this place has to offer."

Elizabeth bit her lip as she hated to admit that he had been right. It would certainly be safer to return here again when the entrances and exits were well known… and the supplies were bigger. She looked back at the tapestries and tried to gather as much footage as possible before the conditions became unbearable and she was forced to run after John and catch up with him. The flashlight on her helmet had been far from perfect and she cursed not taking another torch with her.

"You've accompanied a lot of archeological teams?" She sensed his earlier sentence had come from experience.

"Oh yeah. You guys tend to spend hours over a piece of plain rock if you think it has … value."

She smirked. "But you collect such objects, don't you?"

"I only collect the ones that are little more obvious of their value."

"Money value?" she eyed his response.

John stopped. "Okay, I thought I already made it clear that I don't _sell_ the artifacts I come across and also that I'm not a thief."

"I never said you were, Mr. Sheppard," she said.

"Oh, but we know you meant it," he glanced at her and continued walking.

"So did Jojo, apparently."

John snorted at this. "_Please_, he's still more worked up over the fact that I bedded his cousin rather than what I do with the objects I find."

Elizabeth chuckled. "And I thought their laws about looting were stricter."

"If you try to make away with the artifacts out of the country, they are."

"How strict?"

"You get a death sentence," he replied and smiled at her.

"They wouldn't be the first country to do it but still, that's a bit harsh."

"Of course it depends on the value of the objects. You could get a life sentence if the value is less," he spoke in his usual nonchalant way.

"Oh, reassuring."

"Which is why the smuggling business here isn't exactly thriving."

"And they have no problems if you keep those artifacts _at home_?"

"Nope. As long as it doesn't leave Delonia, they're okay with it, but if you're a foreigner they tend to hassle you more."

"I noticed."

Following the long street led them to another set of stairs. At least they were going up. Elizabeth looked at her watch and saw that they had almost three hours left until sundown. It had not been recommended to walk through the thick forest at night no matter how good one was in making their way through the barely noticeable paths. The chances of getting lost and coming across a large predator like the Krolevan wildcat that had been the size of a Grizzly were rather big – something John was generous enough to tell Elizabeth during their trek to the cave.

"Worse comes to worse, we'll just have to spend the night in the city," Elizabeth said.

"Let's hope we don't have to," John replied. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this place for reasons that he couldn't explain.

"Not too keen on remaining here a while longer?" she asked.

"Not exactly." They finally reached the top of the stairs where another street, similar to the previous one, met them.

"Did it say in those scrolls of theirs why the city was abandoned like that?"

"No. They didn't describe any wars happening or diseases or anything that would force them to move. But they don't explain everything about the Ancient Krolevans. The tapestries were not mentioned… maybe we'll come across more here."

So far the city appeared to be perfectly preserved. The air was breathable; the objects they came across seemed almost untouched. "You know, I watched a movie like this once. A ghost town where you think time has stopped… then it turned out they were all abducted by aliens."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Well I'm sure there was another, more realistic reason for their disappearance. Frankly, I'm more interested in what they left behind at the moment."

"There was also one theory about the Egyptian pyramids being the landing pads for alien spaceships."

Elizabeth shook her head. "That was also a movie."

"Damn. I knew I remembered it from somewhere."

"And another –"

"Uh, maybe we should give the whole alien conspiracy theory a break here," she interrupted him.

"Didn't hurt to speculate at least," he said with a shrug. "You never know."

"True. But let's go with something that's less science-fiction next time." She heard him laugh. Elizabeth concentrated once again on the decorated bronze walls.

"Not much into the whole alien belief?"

"It's not that. People just tend to exaggerate when we come across a civilization whose building methods or certain ways of life seem unusual. If it isn't something that's obvious right away that could confirm that those peoples could have come up with such methods, they think it's the work of some extra terrestrial beings."

"Tell a man there are a million stars in the universe and he'll believe you, but tell him the bench has wet paint and he'll have to touch it to be sure."

"Precisely."

A tall dark wall stopped them from going further. "What's this wall doing here?" Elizabeth asked, surprised. The red building seemed to block the street. She approached it and put her hand on it. "Strange," she said. The wall suddenly began crumbling.

"It's gonna fall!" John shouted and grabbed Elizabeth's arm.

As they started running away from it, the wall collapsed only a meter away from them.

Hearing the crash, both stopped at a safer distance, and turned around. In the dust that arose from the fallen and shattered pieces of wall, it felt safe to take a few more steps back.

John looked at Elizabeth. "You have a gift," he said sarcastically.

Elizabeth touched her neck below her ear like an embarrassed little girl. "It didn't seem that the wall would collapse just like that. But at least… it cleared the way," she said and pointed toward the dust.

He huffed and began walking again. "Let's go," John said.

Moving past the debris, Elizabeth glanced at it. "It was probably placed here to block that other part of the city from the rest, but why?"

"We'll… or _you'll_ figure it out another time, doc."

The answer was presented to them sooner than either expected. "Oh, my God…." Elizabeth spoke.

The street before them was covered with human remains numbering in the hundreds.

"This wasn't mentioned in the scrolls?"

"No… what… what happened here?"

With the other side of the city looking almost beautiful, here it appeared to be a complete mess. There were torn down tapestries, damaged walls…. And corpses, many corpses.

"Something bad," John said.

Treading carefully among the remains, trying not to step on them, both were amazed at the number. They saw no skeletons of children, only adults.

Grabbing her hand so as not to lose her, John was careful with his steps while at the same time becoming more eager to abandon this city himself. The trail of human remains continued for miles it seemed.

"There must be hundreds or more here," he guessed.

Seeing the positions of their bones, Elizabeth could imagine the panic and suffering that reigned here. But the reason for this was still unclear.

Another tall wall presented itself before them. In the middle of it was another leaf-shaped door but without a handle anywhere. Above it was a modest tapestry with large letters. Above the letters was a white raven and under them a red fish. Lifting the torch higher, John brought it closer to the pale tapestry.

"Give them peace," Elizabeth translated the words quickly.

John turned around where the remains of the people had been. He imagined the message to be about them.

Elizabeth confirmed that for him. "The white raven was considered as the guide to the heavens for the deceased."

"You think this was put up here after their deaths?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "I don't know another reason for it being here."

"What's the fish for then?"

"The Red Medallion." Elizabeth glanced at John. "The rivers here used to be plentiful with this fish. I still don't know what it represents though."

"Doesn't say what's behind this door, so it's useless for now."

"This isn't so well done like the others," Elizabeth said, observing the lack of details. "It was probably done in a hurry."

"The door doesn't seem to have a way of opening it," John said, looking at the only possible exit here.

Elizabeth's view dropped to the floor where she saw a gold-painted line next to the door. Something caught her eye as she squatted down and saw a small needle sticking out from the middle. She glanced up at the tapestry and then down again.

"Found something?" John asked her.

"Y-es….A needle," she replied. "Strange." Elizabeth reached for the needle. When she pulled it out, the door suddenly fell down.

"Did you know that was supposed to open the door or was it just a lucky guess?" he asked her.

"Neither," she confessed.

The space in front of them was wider than the corridors they had seen so far. The limitations of the flashlights and the torch along with the rising dust weren't helping. It had to be a wider room, they thought. Walking on the remains from an older wall which must have had fallen ages ago, they tried to see more and make a decent picture of what had been behind this wall.

They couldn't see walls, the floor still under the rubble, the ceiling out of their reach. Some of the rubble had fallen on a lower level than the previous ones, making it appear that there had been stairs beneath them. As they kept moving and the traces of rubble were becoming scarcer, a color of green became visible on the floor. They saw a fish drawn there, some algae…and the jaws of a shark.

Elizabeth stopped and then looked behind her. "This is the wall opposite of the first one that fell."

"Uh-uh."

"But everyone had been running towards that first wall…"

"Maybe they figured that was the only one passage that was safe to go through…."

Elizabeth stepped aside and felt her left foot hit something. Looking down, she noticed more bones. However, these didn't look human. "John…" she called.

Following the corpse or at least, its remains, John got another uneasy feeling. "Looks big."

"And ancient."

"And not the only one."

Elizabeth turned around to look at this. She saw low piles. She also saw teeth there, sharp teeth; jaws. "This room, or whatever it is, must've been full of them."

They appeared feline…large specimens. "You know, the Mountain Krolevans said that there used to be large cats living here at one time."

"What were they doing here, I wonder?"

An unexpected noise in the background broke through. Both froze, unsure if it had been their imagination as their eyes stayed on the animal remains. When one took a step forward, the noise repeated itself. "Did you hear that?" Elizabeth asked of the sound very similar to a panther.

"Yeah…"

They knew it had been insane to think of even the slight possibility of…

Spinning around she saw a pair of dark eyes and fangs in the small circle of her flashlight. The intense moment was only a moment as the creature leaped over her, snatching the last chance of a better view.

The moment left them standing in their places, searching franticly with the weaker light of the flashlights. "What was that?" she asked.

"Something big."

Elizabeth turned to him. "You saw it?"

"Just a pair of eyes and some teeth."

"It jumped over me. How big was it to be able to do that?"

She paused, looking down at the bones. "You don't think –"

"No."

"But it could –"

"No."

The ancient silence of the city returned after that.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my propety.

* * *

Silently, but with their guard on a higher level, they continued further. It was insane to think that; simply insane.

Moving among these bones, through so much death at the very beginning had been unsettling. They walked for ten minutes until a wall became visible in front of them.

"Was a war that ended with occupation mentioned in the scrolls?" John asked.

"No. It was mostly about their daily lives. The peaceful times." Elizabeth started walking along the wall. "You think that was the reason for their fate?" she asked referring to the human bodies.

"From the looks of the chamber, they weren't exactly the live and let live kind, so maybe it angered another tribe."

Elizabeth nodded. "Wouldn't be surprising." Her eyes wandered briefly to the direction where the mysterious creature had disappeared. The sounds she heard back then were those of a large cat. It hadn't been assuring knowing that they were not alone here. When her eyes returned to the wall, they noticed similar images to those on the floor. Hearing a crack beneath her, Elizabeth quickly looked down and noticed her foot what was once a large paw. The size of the skeletal remains worried her where her foot was extremely small standing in the middle of it. Elizabeth couldn't help but swallow a lump of nervousness which suddenly got stuck in her throat. She took comfort in the thought that the creature hadn't attacked them when it clearly had a good chance of doing so.

Raising the torch higher, the flickering light revealed steps behind the tall walls. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this used to be an arena once," John's sandy voice broke through the darkness. When she didn't respond, he turned around to her. "Doc?"

His call pulled her out of her thoughts. "Oh, uh, yeah…"

He looked at her more carefully. "Worried about the cat?" John asked.

She looked back at him. "You think it was a cat?"

He shrugged. "No… Actually, I'm not sure."

Elizabeth pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. She had to admit being surprised by his calmness. "Okay." She turned back to the wall. "Well, it does raise the alert level a bit higher," Elizabeth replied.

"Look at it this way, if it is something big and dangerous, at least it's giving you one more reason to find a way out of here more quickly," he sounded surprisingly cheerful with that sentence.

"Yes, it does," she replied.

Moving along the wall and in the small space that hadn't been covered in bones, their steps were quicker this time. Close to the ground – black, iron bars caught their attention. A gate not bigger than ten feet was seen as Elizabeth leaned forward for a better look. The flashlight of her helmet pierced through the darkness on the other side where it showed a dark tunnel ahead. "It looks like a tunnel," she said.

"Can you open the gate?" he asked.

Failing to push the gate, Elizabeth pulled toward her instead and opened it. "That's a 'yes'."

"Good. On we go," he suggested.

"And the fact that we have no idea where it leads to?"

"Is something we don't have much time to think about."

Elizabeth looked up at him. "It's strange that there's no other exit or entrance here," she said.

"Maybe it was used as a tunnel through which those things came here. And if we're lucky, you'll have a few waiting for you at the other end." He smiled.

"Do you get some sadistic enjoyment out of this?"

"Of what?"

"Trying to make me feel uncomfortable with scenarios like that.

"No," he replied innocently and stepped inside the tunnel.

Perching her lips, Elizabeth fixed the flashlight forward and entered the small tunnel after him.

She could see scratch marks on the walls, deep and looking almost fresh. May of them similar to the ones she noticed at the other side of the wall when they opened the door leading to this so-called arena. Elizabeth shivered at the thought of these huge beasts being here. If they could damage these rocks easily like this, she hated to think what they could do to a human being. The fear that these ancient animals had inflicted in her all of a sudden with mere thoughts disturbed her greatly.

"So, from what I heard about the Southern Wing, it used to be one of the finest parts of the city," John said.

"That's how it was described in some of the scrolls as well," she replied. "Apparently, much about the city's history was stored there in writing… And, one even mentioned that not many people were allowed to go there. Too many secrets that were not supposed to be revealed – their explanation."

"I can see why. What about their armies?"

"That's something we have almost no record of. At least, none that were recovered from the Little Bell."

"Nothing on their military?"

"As I said, wars were something not desired or believed in here."

"Well, whether it was or wasn't, the military is a valuable asset to every city, especially one such as this one."

"Unfortunately it sometimes brings even more chaos than order."

"I tend to believe the opposite. Humans aren't exactly a peaceful species."

"Maybe not all, but you have exceptions. Wars are useless. Nothing is gained, only people die."

Another door with bars caused them to stop. A gentle push opened it, revealing a smaller room with more bronze walls. Next to the walls were tall cylinder-shaped cages of bronze. The bars were made of diamonds with no locks or keys. The floor and ceiling of the cages had engravings of jaws and some writing that appeared difficult to translate quickly. The size of the cages appeared big enough to hold the animals.

At the other side of the room was a door and next to it were ten small diamonds placed in the wall. "Only ten cages," Elizabeth said quietly. She walked over to the diamonds.

"They weren't just interested in art and literature," John said. The bars of the first cage suddenly dropped down. Looking at it, he then moved the torch in front of him where he saw Elizabeth with her hand on the first diamond.

"Huh, explains how they opened the cages," she said and smiled.

John said nothing but walked over to her. The door had no panel or anything similar to open it. The precious stones on the wall were only used for the cages. A crack above the doorframe caught their eye. Unfortunately the doorframe appeared too high for them. John looked around and noticed a thick pole, looking more like a candlestick holder. On top of it was a small tray with a hole in the middle. "Hold this," he said and gave the torch to Elizabeth.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"I'll give you a boost so you can see what's on the other side," he replied.

"Alright…"

Bringing his hands together, he created a small net for Elizabeth's foot. Stepping on his hands, Elizabeth was soon elevated high enough to see through the crack. Holding onto the smooth stones of the doorframe, she brought her face closer.

"See anything?" he asked.

The crack was the size of a fist and the hole appeared at least a meter long. "Barely," she responded. "I'm guessing it's another tunnel."

"Nothing else?"

"Nope."

"Great." Lowering her to the ground again, John exhaled.

"How could they not have a way of opening the door from this side? What if one of them got stuck with these creatures in here?"

"I'm sure there is one," he said and took the torch.

A distant growl was heard behind them, causing them to spin around quickly, with John almost knocking down the candlestick. The door behind them fell down immediately afterwards, surprising them both.

"How-?" Elizabeth asked.

The tilted candlestick next to him provided the answer. "Come on!" John grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, not wanting to remain in this room. When they walked through it, the door rose up again quickly.

"Well, _that_ has never happened before," Elizabeth said, looking at the door.

The surprisingly resilient light of the torch that kept burning, forced away the darkness of the next corridor. It appeared to be a wide one with a stone fence in the middle, separating it in two. On each wall was a yellow tapestry. John approached it and saw an image of large cat-like creature ready to pounce on a man who had nothing to defend himself with except for a small shield. He didn't observe the image for too long before continuing forward. The sooner they left this city, the better. Elizabeth, in the meantime, used her chance to take a couple of images of the tapestries.

Another door was passed that led them to yet another more open space. The temperature was lower here, something that their skin reacted to immediately. Gray sand replaced the smooth stones here as they moved forward. They could hear nothing else but their own breathing, the sound of the flame and the way their feet moved on the soft surface. The torch didn't grab much of this new room and it revealed only sand around them. But Elizabeth noticed something else. "Hey, over there," she said and pointed slightly to the left. The light caught a small stone pillar. Walking over to it, they saw its square shape and height no bigger than their waists. The pillar was decorated with images of fangs and flowers; on the top were three metal spikes. This felt curious to John who brought the torch closer to them. When the flame accidentally touched one of the spikes, it caused it to light up. The other two soon followed and a moment later the room around them began receiving the arrival of more light, beginning from the floor and gradually moving up.

"Lucky guess again?" Elizabeth asked.

John only shrugged at this.

A large hall was revealed to them. The tall bronze walls had steep stairs attached to them; so steep that they wondered if it was humanly possible to climb them. At the top of each staircase was a dark entrance. The walls between the stairs were also decorated with gigantic life-like images of felines – some with an aggressive pose, almost ready to pounce on the visitor in this room; the others were in a tamer mood: sitting down, asleep or simply watching those that entered, carefully. Of all the parts from these giant animals, it had been their eyes and claws that appeared truly alive.

"They really had a thing for detail, didn't they?" John said, observing the creatures.

Their observation of the hall was interrupted when the pillar next to them made a sharp sound, drawing the visitors' attention to it. They saw it being raised higher. The middle where the pillar parted revealed small silver blocks on each side of the pillar. "These look like buttons," John said, looking at them carefully. Each button had been placed in such a way as to be on the opposite side of each staircase. John touched the one that was closer to the first staircase on the left. He then tried to push it but was unable to.

"Doesn't move?" Elizabeth asked.

"No."

Elizabeth looked down at the button on the right side and tried to push it but was met with the same result of… nothing. She then looked over at the other one where John's hand had remained and then touched it with the intention of removing the man's hand when…

Creeeeeeak.

The left staircase moved forward, the steps becoming wider and more reasonable to walk on.

John and Elizabeth remained there, watching this. "Okay… next time, you touch it first," he said.

Elizabeth glanced at him. "Should we climb?" she asked.

"Well-"

A soft purr somewhere in the distance cut off his sentence. Spinning around, their eyes noticed a pair of large, feline eyes staring at them. "Oh, shit…" he whispered.

The intense color of green in the large eyes almost devoured them. The bronze-colored fur of its body began to shed off, replacing itself with a grayer, darker color as the feline emerged slowly from the still drawing of the wall.

Landing gently on the sand, as only a cat would know how, the creature began to slowly approach the visitors, its eyes never leaving them. John and Elizabeth contemplated running away, but that thought was quickly banished when the door behind them suddenly closed.

Having no other choice, and with the firm of grasp of their fear on them, the two stood there, with John holding the torch in front of them. The creature raised itself higher, letting out a quiet growl as if inspecting these strangers. It then jerked its head back with the intention of making a move when something suddenly distracted it. Looking behind it, the creature then hissed and quickly moved into the wall again, disappearing behind its still image.

With deep breaths, both humans stood there, wondering what had just happened. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

"I…I'm still not sure," Elizabeth replied. Such things were only real in books and movies… not in reality. "But something stopped it."

"Yeah…. Although…somehow, I don't think it wanted to hurt us," John said.

Elizabeth looked up at the flat, bronze ceiling. An image of the city was presented, guarded by ten feline creatures like the ones in this room. Under it were words. "Our protectors…" Elizabeth read it. She quickly took out her camera and recorded as much of this hall as possible.

This was another question brought on by this city; the answers were too few to satisfy the huge number of questions.

The staircase suddenly returned to the wall again, the pillar dropped down, disappearing beneath the sand…. And in turn, a door on the other side of the hall slowly opened.

"This place is officially becoming creepy," John said to this.

The two carefully stepped through the opened door. As they disappeared from the hall, two dark and more real animal eyes watched them in the shadows of the entrance beyond the steep stairs, quietly.

Their feet stepped on more bones… both human and animal. The dark hallway which greeted them had tiny, faint rays of light, no doubt coming from outside.

A large, disturbing sound was then heard behind them. Looking over their shoulders, they saw a huge boulder fall on the skeletons and then began rolling their way. "Oh this has to be a joke!" John said, before he and Elizabeth sprung forward, running as fast as their legs could carry them.

"You do know that there could be a dead end here, don't you!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Well we can't really go back, now can we!" John replied. The flame gave out and he had to abandon the torch. With only their flashlights and the small rays of light, they had a poor view of what was ahead of them. But he managed to notice a small opening on the left wall. Grabbing her arms, John shoved Elizabeth in the opening, and then jumped in it himself. The heavy sound of the rolling bolder zoomed past their ears, as both waited with closed eyes. As the sound was getting weaker, Elizabeth opened her eyes to find John facing her. With a heavy breath, surrounded by black walls, he asked if she was okay.

"Yeah. You?"

John nodded. A crash was heard. The boulder had stopped.

"Told you there was a dead end there."

John scowled. He then poked his head out of the opening to make sure it felt safe to step out. "Okay, come on," he said and stepped out of the opening. Pulling her by the hand, John helped Elizabeth to stand in the hallway with him.

"Back we go?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah."

Deciding to return to the hallway with the rays of light, Elizabeth and John hoped it would lead them somewhere closer to daylight … while there remained some. Both stood at the largest hole that was the size of a thumb and began staring at it.

"You don't suppose we could dig through it, do you?" John asked.

"Any other time I would've said you're out of your mind for wanting to damage an archeological site…" Elizabeth collapsed her hands. "But since we're virtually stuck here…."

John smiled. He took off his backpack, and then took out a small axe. That axe soon came into contact with the wall close to the crack. Fortunately for them it had been made of material that wasn't too hard to break down.

They squinted at the rays of light that became wider and, although the sun had not been as strong as before, the darkness of before forced their eyes to take a moment and adjust. When he finally managed to make a hole big enough to get through, John climbed up to reach it. Having only the lower half of his body visible to her for the second time, Elizabeth waited. "What do you see?"

"Trees!" he replied.

"What else?"

"A possible way out."

"Oh, good! How?"

"Well, are you willing to go all ape again?"

"Uh, I don't think I like the sound of that too much."

John shimmied back to see her. "You said you didn't have a fear of heights, right?"

"That's right."

"Okay then." Managing to smuggle his entire body through the hole, he then disappeared from Elizabeth's view. There was silence.

"Mr. Sheppard?" she called.

"Can you climb up?" his voice was heard over the hole.

"I think so." Elizabeth took this as an invitation and walked up to the wall. Following the same path, she managed to reach the hole. Taking a good grasp of the side, she slowly pushed herself head-first through the opening. Being able to tolerate the change of light better this time, she saw the dense forest nearby. Lowering her view she met John's. Elizabeth saw him standing on a pair of thick tree branches right next to the wall from where he waved. "Hey."

He then wrapped his hands around her upper body, helping her out of the hole. Finally landing on her feet and in natural daylight, Elizabeth took a chance to breathe in. "Fresh air. Finally." She could see tall, thick trees everywhere around them, masking the walls of the city easily.

Following John's idea, they soon managed to reach the shorter, fifth tree. Elizabeth was indeed thankful that heights of any kind had not been scary to her, as the height of the first two trees was mind-spinning.

Elizabeth had been the first to reach the ground. When John came down, he saw her frozen in her spot with a look of panic on her face.

"What is it?" he asked with concern. Before he had the chance to turn around, a blow to his head rendered him unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

To her dismay, she was met with darkness when Elizabeth opened her eyes. It took her a second to realize that a bag, which had the unwanted smell of onions, had been put over her head. The coldness of the hard wall behind her and that of the hard wooden surface on which she was sitting couldn't be missed.

"Damn…." She heard John's voice near by. The hoarse voice and the tiny swearing whispers that followed told her that he was coming to. "J-j-ohn?" She went by his first name.

"Yeah. Ah."

"You wouldn't happen to know where we are?"

"I have an idea," he replied and groaned.

The sacks were then removed from their heads. Elizabeth saw a large man with a shaved head and beard that begged to be trimmed; the thick gold chain on his chest and B.O. that could bring down an elephant. He stepped away from them, took a few steps back and then shut the prison door. Elizabeth saw the reason for the uncomfortable seats – they had been in a prison cell with a light bulb at the ceiling that struggled to stay alive. "Haven't you heard of soap and water?" she spoke to the man who by the look on his face couldn't understand her.

"I second that, although he didn't stink as bad the first time."

"First time?" Elizabeth turned to him. "You've been here before?"

Before John could answer, the door of the room in which the cage or prison was, opened. With heavy boots, worn out jeans, a black shirt and ridiculously thick chest hair, a middle-aged man entered. The blonde eyes on the square face examined the visitors. "Sheppard," he spoke in a rough voice, the hospitability absent in it.

"Ah. Romeo. The only person in Kroleva who could pronounce my name right. Sadly," John said.

"You two know each other." Elizabeth was surprised but less than amused.

"Oh yeah. We're old buddies. Aren't we Romeo, old pal!"

"I should rip your guts out and hang them from highest building in Delonia," Romeo replied with heavy accented English.

"See?" John turned to smile at Elizabeth.

"Don't tell me, you slept with _his_ cousin, too?" Elizabeth said, while carefully keeping her eyes on the man at the other side of the cage.

"No. He just missed me too much."

"I've missed the jeweled gloves and masks you stole from me!"

"Well, I couldn't let you smuggle them out of here. I did you a favor actually."

"You cost me money."

"No. I saved your life. You would have been playing cards with little naked devils in hell by now if it hadn't been for me."

Romeo smirked. "I don't like pigs that steal from me."

"Not like you're not doing the same thing." John nodded.

Romeo gave not the impression of a patient man and Elizabeth wondered if John was doing the right thing in provoking him. His pale blue eyes quickly caught her.

"Girlfriend?" he asked.

"Business," John replied and sensed Elizabeth's look.

"American like you?"

Elizabeth hung her head instead of rolling her eyes. No one in Kroleva assumed her to be a non-U.S. citizen.

"No. She's…" John turned to her. "What are you?"

Elizabeth's head snapped back before she turned to him. "_Canadian_!"

"Right." John looked back at Romeo. "She's Canadian."

Romeo's face lit up. "Rich woman."

"I wouldn't say that," Elizabeth replied.

"Equipment in your bag looked expensive."

"Not all of it is mine." Elizabeth coughed.

"Not surprising," John said.

"You archeologist?" Romeo asked her.

"That's right."

"Hm. Perhaps you could be useful," Romeo said. The two men soon left the room, slamming the door behind them.

Elizabeth quickly stood up. She approached the metal bars of the cage. "What now? They're going to hold us for ransom?"

John laughed. "Nah. They don't bother with that."

"Then what did he mean by me being useful?"

John shrugged. "I don't know."

Elizabeth sighed. She began looking around the small cell made of black stones with only the small bench where John had been sitting. "Charming place," she said and crossed her arms.

"Quite the honeymoon suite."

Elizabeth threw him a look. She then noticed a small window with bars on the other side. The metal bars seemed loose. "Hey, check those out," she said, pointing to them.

John glanced up. Instead of reacting with the same amount of interest as Elizabeth, he leaned back with disinterest.

Elizabeth jumped up to reach them but they were too high. She quickly scanned the cell and then reached for the bench. "Get up," she told him.

"Hm?"

She could've sworn he was close to slumber with his attitude. "Get up and help me with the bench!" Elizabeth told him.

John stood up. He picked up the other side of the bench and helped her carry it beneath the window. "You're wasting your time."

"And why's that?" Elizabeth climbed up on the bench. She reached for the bars; to her delight they were easy to remove. "Ha! They came off!"

John leaned back on the wall, crossing his arms and watching the eagerness with which Elizabeth was attempting her daring escape.

Managing to shimmy half through the window, Elizabeth suddenly stopped when she noticed what had been below: a drop; a Niagara Falls-high drop with the dark water at the bottom.

"Oh, shit." Elizabeth quickly shimmied back. Breathing heavily she turned to look at John.

"Told you," he said.

Elizabeth huffed, squinting her eyes at him. Sitting down on the bench, she gathered her hands and hung her head.

* * *

Staring at the black dot on the black surface of the black stone for the past two hours, Elizabeth was beginning to dislike the day she came across John Sheppard. She wondered if it had been his cockiness that made her think this way or being stuck in this stupid cell…or just the tiredness combined with the lack of food. Of course this was nothing compared to the tiny closet-spaced room she and another colleague were held blindfolded in a small town in Western Europe. When she signed up to study archeology, Elizabeth hadn't anticipated leading a life that resembled those of spy novels. She somehow always had the misfortune of running into smugglers.

"Move over." His voice suddenly broke her musings.

"What?" She looked up at his slightly tired face.

"I need to sit down, move over."

Elizabeth glanced at the rest of the bench on which her legs were. "Floor not good enough for you?" she spoke coldly.

"No."

"Looks clean."

"Yeah? Then you sit on it. They tend to spit a lot on it. Move over," he repeated.

Elizabeth sighed and removed her feet. John slowly sat down next to her. He saw the slight agitation on her face. "Cheer up, doc. They'll hold us for a few more hours and then we'll be on our way," he told her.

"I certainly didn't get that impression from your friend," she spat back.

"You almost sound like you're angry with me," he said to this.

"I'm more tired than angry, Mr. Sheppard," she responded.

"Explains the strange fascination with the wall for the past few hours. And by the way, I think it's safe to try using first names."

"Fine with me, John."

"Good…. Elizabeth."

The door of the room opened again.

"Oh look, the Stinky man is back," Elizabeth nodded.

John snickered to this.

The bearded man held to plates of food. He opened the door of the cell and was about to place the plates on the floor.

"Aah!" John quickly got up. "_Not on the floor_," he told him in Delonian. "_I'll take those_."

The man shrugged and handed the plates to him. Shutting the doors of the cell and the room, he left without a word.

"Oh, fried chicken. Sure an improvement from the boiled rat they gave me the first time," he said and handed one of the plates to Elizabeth.

"You're quite the comedian, John," Elizabeth told him. She was surprised to find rice next to the meat and even more surprised at how good it smelled. To her hungry stomach this was too much.

"I'm not kidding, it really wa-" John slowed down when he saw how quickly Elizabeth began putting food in her mouth. "Wow, you're really hungry."

"Mm!" Elizabeth replied.

"I guess it's a little late to tell you that the last time they gave such a rich meal to a prisoner it had rat poison in it," he said, observing her.

Elizabeth stopped and looked at him with shock in his eyes. He was serious. She wasn't sure whether to swallow the meal in her mouth or spit it out so she spoke with it still in there. "What?"

John suddenly broke into boyish laughter. "I was just pulling your leg, doc."

Elizabeth grimaced at him. She dipped her fingers in the rice and picked up a chunk. "Last time," she swallowed the remains of the chewed food, "they just gave us water."

Now it was John who was surprised. "Last time?"

"Oh, yes. Radek, great colleague of mine, and I, we were in this small village in Western Europe to check a site that was rumored to hold the remains of a king famous in that region in the fourteenth century."

Listening to her own previous experience, John noticed her mood had slightly picked up. _It must have been the food_, he thought and took a bite himself. He chuckled a few times as he listened to her colorful descriptions of the people and particularly of the tiny room in which they were held.

The conversation was scarce this time; maybe because both felt tired and in the need of some sleep. The floor had been out of the question and so the chosen location ended up being the bench. It seemed wide enough for two human bodies to lay on it, although the length could have been bigger. Elizabeth lay down next to the wall at John's insistence; he followed shortly after when he laid down next to her. The width of the bench had been underestimated and both ended up lying closer to each other than planned; so close that both were forced to turn and sleep on the side. Facing the wall, Elizabeth realized the awkwardness of this, mostly because John had been facing toward the same direction. She trusted him not to misuse the situation; but if in case he got so brave and stupid, at least she wouldn't bother Romeo and his gang of what to do with John… She would take care of him herself.

Elizabeth heard a quiet chuckle. She sighed annoyingly. "What?"

"Your hair smells of onions," he whispered.

"Well so does yours, but I was polite not to say anything."

"Thank you."

"You could always turn to the other side if it becomes unbearable to you." The squeaking sound confirmed that he had agreed to her suggestion. "Ow!" she felt his elbow hit her lower back.

"Sorry."

Elizabeth knew her body would pay for this in the morning; not that she had much choice in matter.

* * *

A sharp and annoying poke of a stick in his back woke him up in the morning. When he opened his eyes, John found his arm right over Elizabeth's waist. Yes, the bench hadn't been wide enough. He felt another stab. "Hey!" John tried to turn around as much as possible without falling off.

Romeo's 'charming' face came into view, his expression far from that of a happy, sunny morning. "Get up!"

"Uh, give us a few more hours, will ya?" John complained.

"This isn't a hotel, Sheppard! Get up!" Romeo stabbed John's back with the stick again.

"Ah! Shit!" The last stab made his reflexes react and he accidentally kicked Elizabeth's legs with his knee. "Okay. Okay!" John slowly managed to sit up, followed by a groggy Elizabeth.

Both were quickly dragged out of their cells, and brought out into the glaring morning sun; the strong rays were not kind on their eyes.

She noticed some chickens running around, a few sheep, horses and a handful of geese amongst the poorly built houses. It looked like small farm and the smell certainly confirmed it. Romeo and two assistants disappeared into one of the houses, while Elizabeth and John remained here with three gun-holding men. Since neither spoke, Elizabeth moved her neck and heard a few cracks; she could also hear her body whining about sleeping on the uncomfortable bench with barely enough space. At least she hadn't been cold, mostly because she had another warm body next to her. Glancing over at John who was more bored than concerned about the current situation, Elizabeth couldn't remember if he behaved himself last night but she somehow had a feeling he had. Also, she had been too tired to really notice anything.

"How did you manage to steal from these guys?" she asked him.

"They needed a guide, I needed the money. I overheard their plans by accident and I just couldn't let them sell those artifacts to some rich European snob."

"Where are the artifacts now?" she asked.

John looked at her with mischief in his eyes. "Where do you think?"

"Ah." Elizabeth chuckled.

Minutes later, Romeo return with a small bag. "How did you enjoy your stay at the Bronze City?" he asked them.

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "How did you?-…" she shut her eyes briefly, "Right, the camera."

"It seems you have found some very interesting treasures over there," Romeo said.

"We didn't come across any jewels," Elizabeth replied.

Romeo smiled. He pulled out the small digital, video camera. Pressing the button, a video of the tapestries appeared. "How much would you estimate the value of each?" Romeo looked at the two foreigners.

"Given their condition? I'd say not much," she lied. Elizabeth knew that each tapestry would reach a minimum of 600,000 U.S. dollars on the black market.

"But they look to be in great condition," Romeo said.

"That, well, we sort of touched something while we were in there that _sort of_ triggered a chain reaction and… damaged the tapestries," John told him.

"How much damage?"

"The torn-to-pieces-almost-worthless damage?"

Romeo observed them both for a long time, making Elizabeth uncomfortable. He then turned off a camera. "Show me where you found them."

"That won't be easy," John replied.

"And why?"

"Because we have no idea where we were when we got out of the place, not to mention you bringing us here screwed up our orientation even more."

"Really."

"Yes!"

Romeo pulled out his gun and then pointed it at Elizabeth's head. "Does _this_ help your orientation?"

John felt the sudden rush of fear that went through Elizabeth at that moment. "I wasn't kidding, Romeo. It's really difficult to find the entrance."

Romeo began smiling until he grinned. "You will try harder, Sheppard, or," he cocked the gun, "a bullet will go straight into your friend's head."

"Aren't these death threats getting old by now?" John said.

Romeo kept grinning. "Never." The barrel of the gun was almost touching the skin of Elizabeth's forehead.

"And if I do, by some weird chance, find the entrance and take you there?"

"She lives."

"And then?"

"And then, I let you go."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Elizabeth asked, the gun making her less nervous than she realized.

"Besides the gun pointed at you? I am a man of my word, Weir," he told.

John nodded. "He is telling the truth there," he said.

"You agree on our deal?" Romeo asked, his blue eyes getting a dangerously, darker shade.

John pressed his lips. It had always been easier for him to joke when his own life had been threatened, but when another person he knew had been in question, it always made things more difficult. "Yes."

Romeo grinned again. "Wonderful." He removed the gun. "We will make preparations and then we will leave."

When he walked away from them, leaving two guards to keep an eye on the prisoners, Elizabeth exhaled.

"Explains the good meal they gave us," he said and licked his lips.

"You're sure he'll keep his word?"

"He may be an asshole, but he stands by his word."

"Well, I'm not too keen on taking them to the tapestries."

"Neither am I. Besides, the City is too far from here, my feet would kill me," he complained.

Elizabeth shook her head. "And I thought my life had at least some value to you."

John chuckled. "Well, I'd get paid well if I bring you back alive," he told her.

Elizabeth gave him a look and was almost taken by the thought if he was younger than she first imagined. "So what do we do?"

"First, try to keep a relatively happy face."

"Why?"

"We don't want these two to think we might be thinking of escaping," he said, referring to the guards.

"I see. You have an escape plan?"

"Yes, I do."

"Great! Let's hear it."

"We steal one of their jeeps and get the hell out of here," he said.

"Ah! How do we do that without earning two bullets in our skulls?" she asked.

"Distraction."

"You make it sound too easy, Mr. Sheppard."

He raised an eyebrow. "We slept together and you still go with the formalities?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "What's your distraction?"

"You," he said.

She spun around to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"You'll distract these two."

With her fingers tapping her hips, she asked, "And just how do I do that?"

"I don't know. Use your womanly charms," he waved his hands.

"Oh, seriously, Mr. Sheppard."

"You tell me you can't flirt?"

Elizabeth smirked. "That's a pretty cheap trick, you know."

"But works with the male species," he told her.

"Fine." Unbuttoning the two buttons of her dirty shirt, she turned around and approached the guards. "Alright, boys." With her hands on her hips, Elizabeth pulled a seductive smile. "Who can tell me where the toilet is around here?" John once again helped with translating her words.

The shorter, bald guard pointed behind her. She turned and saw a small shed. "Figures," she whispered. When she began walking towards it, the guard followed her, leaving John with the other one. He waited, not wanting to risk anything while the machine gun in the guard's hands was still pointed at him and he watched John like a guard dog.

The door to the toilet had been on the other side, making the two disappear from their view. They waited as minutes passed. Even John was beginning to wonder what had happened. "Chad?" the guard shouted. There was no reply.

After a while, it was only Elizabeth who appeared behind the shed. She approached them calmly.

"Where is Chad?" the guard asked.

"Ah, he decided to take a nap," she replied innocently.

Knowing something was amiss, the guard wanted to alert the others but John managed to knock him out cold. Taking the smaller gun from the guard's holster, John checked it for bullets. "What happened back there?" he asked as he stood up.

"I've learned a few self-defense tricks on my travels," she replied with a roguish smile.

He smiled back at her. "You keep surprising me, doc." They ran over to the small building where they had noticed Romeo bringing their bags earlier.

The small space with only an office desk and chair, an old-fashioned fan and a poster of a naked woman greeted them. The camera had been placed, conveniently, on the desk. However, as they both checked to see if all the contents had been left inside, shouts from the outside had already alerted them that their disappearance had been noticed. When John scanned the room for a possible window on the other side, he noticed something better – a door.

"Yes!" he ran over to it.

Opening the door carefully, he checked to see if the coast was clear. The door led to a short corridor with another door in the end. Opening the second door revealed a small garden with vegetables and fruit. "How did you escape the first time?" she whispered.

"Through the entrance."

"Lucky."

"Yeah, I know."

"Any idea where this leads?"

"Nope.

"Wonderful."

The sound of footsteps and voices told them they had already been spotted. When they reached the end of the garden where a stone fence had been placed, John cursed what they saw. Another drop. "Oh this is just great!"

Elizabeth on the other hand seemed more optimistic, especially when she saw two parachutes on the leaning against the fence. Inspecting them quickly, she then threw one over to John. The height seems reasonable and the ground at the end looked safe enough to land on, not to mention that the parachutes were strangely the kind she required.

John quickly looked at her. "Doc?"

"Strap the parachute on!"

"You suggest we jump?"

"That's right!" Elizabeth secured the bags and then jumped on top of the fence.

"What are the chances that we'll end up alive after this?"

"I have no idea!" Elizabeth said before she plunged into the air.

"Elizabeth!" John took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder. The welcoming party with guns was not something he had been looking forward to. Heck, if it had been safe enough for her to jump then it could be safe enough for him to follow. Jumping on top of the fence, John saw Elizabeth's parachute open. "At least they work," he said and jumped.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

The ground beneath his feet felt solid. Both he and Elizabeth had managed to land safely on it. If Romeo's group had decided to follow them by jeep, it would take them at least four hours or more to reach this same spot, giving them enough time to escape. 

"Good thinking with the parachute," he told her as they made their way through the thick forest.

"Thank you. I hope it didn't scare you too much," she teased.

"Actually, it was interesting. I might try it again sometime," he said and glanced at Elizabeth who smiled at this.

She then stopped. John turned to her and saw her barely standing still. "I need to pee!" Elizabeth almost whispered.

John raised his eyebrows. "Okay. I'll…" before he could finish the sentence, she had already disappeared behind some bushes and trees. "Wait here…" John finished.

After a while, he heard her call him.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you do if you see a snake around here?"

"You leave it alone!" John told her. Several minutes passed before he heard a reply from her.

"Thanks!"

"What took you so long to answer?" he asked her.

"The snake did!"

John turned around. "What kind was it?"

"Um, pink and white stripes!" Elizabeth emerged from behind the bushes. "Stayed out of its way."

"Good that you did. It's one of the most dangerous snakes around here," he told her.

A very familiar noise of a gun ready to be fired suddenly stopped them. John exhaled annoyingly and closed his eyes.

"Four hours, huh?" Elizabeth said equally annoyed.

John shook his head. "Didn't take you guys longer this time, I see," he said and slowly turned around to six men with machine guns pointed at him and Elizabeth.

"Our transportation has improved since last time, Sheppard." A tall dark-haired woman stepped up from behind the others. With the olive-colored pants and shirt, her black long hair capturing her waist where a bullet belt that looked more like an accessory gave this woman an age no higher than 35. Her brown eyes and red lips showed a calm mix of satisfaction and something that appeared to be resentment.

John appeared surprised. "Well, nice to see you, too, Juliana."

Although Juliana carried no weapon in her hands, its presence was noticeable, strapped to her back. "Pleasure." She kept a smile.

"You seem to have a lot of friends around here," Elizabeth spoke behind him.

"Oh yeah, plenty," John responded whilst looking at the woman in front of him.

With her hands on her waist, Juliana looked at Elizabeth. "And that is the Canadian?" she asked.

"Romeo filled you in on everything… as usual."

"Yes," Juliana replied.

"And pretty expedient that you just happened to be at this part of the jungle."

"No one ever tried to escape by parachute before," Juliana told him. "Your gun."

Pressing his lips together, John pulled out the gun and threw it over to Juliana. "Don't you have some deals to negotiate with other smuggling bands around here instead of wasting time with us?"

"What you and she found in the Bronze City is worth too much to ignore. And I hope you know how angry Romeo will be over this."

"I have an idea," John replied.

Juliana's face became serious again. "Move," she ordered them.

John turned around and exchanged a look with Elizabeth.

Being ordered to keep their hands above their heads, the two started walking back to the jeep.

Moving through the slippery trails, a sudden yell and gunfire was heard. Turning around the two saw some of the men reacting violently to a sighting of a few snakes beneath their feet, managing to distract even Juliana.

"This would be a good time to start running," John suggested before he and Elizabeth used the sudden situation and took off as Juliana yelled at the men after with bucket-load of curse words.

As they kept running, Elizabeth heard John laugh. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Just the words she used for how the others reacted to the snakes." John chuckled. "She always had the most colorful language."

Running upslope, they soon saw a wide ravine before them. Managing to stop just mere inches from the cliff, they saw the wild river at the bottom. "They never thought of building a bridge here?" Elizabeth asked, looking down. Instead of an answer from John, a thick vine was shoved in her hands. "You'll go over it first," he told her.

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "You want me to swing over the river?"

"Aha!" John said as he looked for another vine for himself.

Muttering something, Elizabeth grasped the vine as tightly as possible. "I just hope it holds." Taking a few steps back, she then rushed forward and leaped.

Seeing her land safely on the other side, John nodded and moved back, readying himself. But from the thick bushes behind Elizabeth, a man suddenly appeared, and grabbed her. With his arm over her shoulders and the other holding a knife to her throat, the man shouted, "_Stay there_!"

John pressed his lips, cursing his decision to allow Elizabeth to cross the river first. Romeo's gang knew this jungle well. Just as he was about to give his answer, Elizabeth suddenly shoved her elbow in the man's stomach, her fist then making a contact with his face, for in the end her foot to hit his crotch, sending the man with huge agony to the ground.

Dumbfounded, John stood there, watching her pick up the knife. "Are you coming?" she shouted.

John smirked and rushed forward. By the time he swung over, the others had reached the cliff, firing their weapons at the roots of the vines. As a result, John fell on the ground much sooner. "Shit!"

Helping him stand up, Elizabeth glanced down at him to see if there were any injuries. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better!" John got up. "Did you see others?"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Good, I began to think he had his men everywhere in this damn jungle!" John grabbed Elizabeth's hand as they sprinted forward into the forest.

Watching them disappear in the thick forest, Juliana cursed out loud. She then spit on the ground and shook her head. Taking out her radio, she then said, "_They're heading towards the city_."

* * *

Elizabeth leaned against the thick bark of the tree to rest. Leaning her head back, she gazed up at the thick vines and leaves that sheltered from the sun so well. "You think they'll catch up with us quickly?" she asked. 

Sliding down on the tree opposite her, John shook his head. "I doubt it."

The mating call of a blue-tailed songbird echoed loudly in the distance. That was soon merged with the calmer sound of clicks and whistles of the famous Brush monkey – name given because the primate's head and tail resembled a hairbrush.

"I'm suddenly very thirsty," she then said.

"So am I. Unlucky for us that the river is several miles back," he replied. "But…" he glanced over to his left at a heart-shaped plant with large green leaves. The tiredness he felt wasn't enough to stop him from jumping to his feet again. Pulling out two of the leaves, he then came over to Elizabeth. "We have something better," he said and smiled.

Watching him twist one of the leaves in his hands, Elizabeth noticed a few clear drops fall from the plant's edges. "Water?"

"Sort of. Has the same taste but with more vitamins in it. Saved my life once," he said. "Open up."

Deciding to trust him, mostly because her need for water had been stronger than her willpower to resist, Elizabeth opened her mouth. Her tongue felt the slightly sweet taste of liquid that started pouring in. At one point the amount was so great and unexpected that it forced her to cough.

Her arm felt his hand as he held it. "Easy," he chuckled. "Easy."

Elizabeth looked back at him. "Mm…"

"Good?" he asked.

"Yeah. More," she demanded.

Lifting an eyebrow, John squeezed out the remaining liquid from the leaf. When she asked… or demanded for more, it surprised him. "Boy, you really are thirsty."

After the last few drops of the second leaf passed through her, Elizabeth tried to ease her heavy breathing. She looked up to see John picking some more leaves to banish his own thirst. "What are they?" she asked.

"The Mountain Krolevans call them Water Givers."

"Suitable," Elizabeth wiped the remaining drops away from her chin only to suck them in with her lips afterwards.

"In the past when hunting was a way of life, the hunters would spend days away from their homes and any water source, so they'd gather these," he said of the leaves before drinking from them.

"How long have you been living here?" she asked him. After their rest, they continued walking, hopefully, back to the village.

"Five years."

Elizabeth whistled to this. John chuckled to that.

"Kroleva offered you what you needed then?"

"You could say that," he replied as he walked in front of her.

"Hey, wait a minute," Elizabeth then called. When he turned around, she quickly disappeared behind a large bush.

"Again?"

"Take a look at this!" her voice was heard.

When he approached her, John saw Elizabeth crouching before a tall stone with engravings, hidden among the many leaves and one tree. The writing appeared ancient as he recognized the letters. Beneath them all was the Red Medallion.

"It's…" Elizabeth traced the text with her fingers as she read the lines, "…a warning."

"Great, snap a photo of it and let's go," he told her.

"No, wait. It's an entrance. Um…" Elizabeth whispered something as she reached the last letters. "Oh, um… okay. The entrance is forbidden… to those who don't belong to the Royal court."

"Good enough. We better hurry, it'll take us a while before we reach the village."

Elizabeth ignored him. "Five thousand years ago there would be guards here to make sure no one came in." She looked up at John with a growing grin on her face.

"Yeah, so?" John said warily.

"We just need to push the rock," she told him.

"Do you know what's in there? Where it leads…?"

"Well, no but –"

"Then, let's go," he urged her.

"Why are you so hesitant about this?" she asked.

John watched her for a while, expecting her to come up with the answer herself instead of him having to point out the obvious. The child-like expectance told him it was foolish of him to even think that. He sighed annoyingly. "Because the _last_ time you were so eager about exploring it, we almost got stuck in the city, were almost attacked by a giant ca-…thing, almost crushed by a boulder…."

"Ah!" Elizabeth quickly stood up. "You said 'almost' on all those things. We were in some near-death situations in there but we got out," she told him with that stubborn grin on her face.

"You know, for an archeologist, you aren't the most careful of people," he told her.

Elizabeth smirked. She pulled out her camera, took some needed photos and then put it back. "I've also learned not to leave important finds for later," she replied.

"Well, it doesn't look like this'll be going anywhere," he said. "Can't you just make a note of it or something and return to it later?" he asked her.

"No," she replied. "Actually, I could, but…" Putting her hands on the left side of the rock, she was ready to push when she noticed John standing next to her. "I can't do this one my own, you know. Help me out here!"

John looked around, trying to find an excuse to get her out of this idea of hers. When she called out to him again, he sighed in frustration over his inability to come up with an excuse that would convince this stubborn woman. Placing his hands on the rock, both tried to remove it. It refused to move.

"I guess bare strength doesn't work with this one," Elizabeth said, failing to find any other clue of moving the rock. "I wonder where it leads to…" she spoke quietly.

"Okay… I take it you know this path?" she then asked John.

John nodded to this. "And you want me to guide you back there…" he guessed.

"Yes," she replied.

"That'll cost you extra," he told her.

"Oh it's worth it," she said it with that familiar twinkle in her eye.

* * *

It took them nearly seven hours to reach the village. Hunger, thirst, and weariness together were not a good combination so when they spotted the light of the fires, they were both beyond relieved. 

They were given clean clothing and warm food. As before, they were offered to sleep in Maya's home. Elizabeth asked whether she could buy one of these warm blankets. The Mountain Krolevans gave it to her as a gift instead. She thanked them; they responded with a smile.

During dinner, Maya and her husband Leko joined them. Leko was a taller, rather thin man but with the same kind eyes and smile as his wife. He had made a good trade the previous day and was able to afford to fix a wall of the house that had been responsible for one too many drafts in the past. They asked about the Bronze City and what John and Elizabeth found. The torture chamber was met with expressions of sadness but the halls and decorations of the other rooms caused smiles on their modest faces while the large bronze hall bewildered them.

The next morning, while John was preparing the horses for the journey home, Elizabeth washed up by the cold stream. She was given a small dish with a blue-colored crème by Maya to use on her face. She was later handed a soft towel with an explanation that the fibers of which it was made would be better suited for her soft skin than the towel she had brought with her. When the red cloth touched her face, Elizabeth felt it to be like a soft feather.

When she returned to the horses later, Elizabeth had a smile on her face. John noticed this.

"You tried some of Maya's soap, huh?" he asked her as he secured the bags on the horses.

"Yes, quite good." Elizabeth then noticed some of the villagers going into a small wooden hut with drapes of green silk layered over it. "Where are they going?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, to pray. They go in that hut each week to pray for a soldier who sacrificed himself for the future of the Krolevans."

"What happened?"

"The most I know is that there was a nasty queen one time in the Bronze City who turned against her followers. Gord – the soldier, apparently stopped her from destroying the city."

"How?"

"That part I wasn't told," he replied.

Curious, Elizabeth walked over to the hut. The thick layers of silk distorted her view of the interior, forcing her to remove some of the curtains enough to have a peak but without disturbing the villagers' praying. The inside of the hut appeared modest with no special decorations except for a stone pillar which had a bronze warrior helmet placed on its top. The helmet had the shape of a large wildcat's open jaw with tiny diamond pieces lined above the teeth.

"We better get going," John startled her with a whisper close to her ear. Hesitantly, she agreed.

* * *

Very few words were exchanged on the way back to the city. The familiar landscape, the ease of it mixed with upcoming turbulence was a good platform for her to begin and place all her gathered information in its right place where some sense could be made and for it to later be placed on paper. 

Once they reached the city, he escorted her back to the hotel. She was surprised when he asked her if she felt well before going home.

After the hot shower, Elizabeth slipped between the sheets on the more comfortable surface. Pulling the woolen blanket over her, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning she stopped by a small shop to develop her photos. The location of it took her three hours to find, as it had been the only one in town that developed digital images. Earlier, she had called George at the museum and then Radek Zelenka, her colleague back in Toronto to whom she only gave a brief description of her explorations in the Bronze City.

Although her efforts in locating the small shop resulted in heavy sweat, she was pleased by the incredibly low price of the developing of her photos and the short time it took. The young girl at the counter, her smile so wide that one would think she was born with it, presented Elizabeth with complementary postcards of the city.

Back at the hotel, she took another long shower and lunch before settling in her room again to view the photos.

She made notes of letters, symbols, and almost anything else that appeared of interest… which was everything. When the photograph of the feline drawings came to view, Elizabeth felt goose bumps. She rubbed her arm to bring on some warmth to it. Elizabeth couldn't explain why those creatures had this impact on her, even away from the city. Exhaling, she took her magnifying glass – a gift from her grandfather – and brought it over the photograph. She noticed engravings, small ones which hadn't managed to catch her attention before. "Hmm…" Elizabeth jerked her head back. "Wow…" she quickly took her pen again and scribbled something on the thick notepad. She would enter her report in the laptop later.

* * *

Putting on his loose pants, John then turned off the light from the bathroom before walking out. Thinking the shirt to be of lesser priority, he instead grabbed a bottle of beer from the small kitchen. His choice of stay was the small backyard. The lush vegetation in this small space combined with the mesmerizing night sky where every single star had been visible, had been one of the main reasons he bought this house. Sitting on the wooden chair with deep red pillows, John leaned back, his eyes already becoming restful by the calmness of this picture before him. 


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

He played the video footage again. "This is most remarkable," he said to what he saw. "And the conditions were right?" the eyes behind the seeing glasses looked back at her.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied, sitting at the other side of the desk.

"Such creatures…" Leaning back in his chair, he pondered for a moment. "How could they have the knowledge for that?" he asked more to himself than her.

"I was equally surprised. But the hall was mostly empty; I don't know where they could keep the needed equipment there, much less the animals themselves."

"And you didn't have the opportunity to check on the upper floor entrances?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no," she told him.

George got up and approached the shelves where he pulled out a thick purple book. Sitting down again, he leafed through the pages. Stopping at one, he straightened the passage and then turned it around for Elizabeth to have a look at it.

Looking at the old photograph and the text, Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Fossils?" George nodded. "They're much older than I imagined."

"I believe you can find some remains on display at the Natural History museum if you like to see them," he said.

"I most certainly do," she replied.

George picked up one of the photographs, which featured part of the inner wall of the arena. "Why would they use them for this barbaric sport if they were supposed to be their Protectors?"

"Another form of execution? I assume the gladiators were prisoners sentenced to death, as judging from the images in the hallways. It would've been nearly impossible for anyone to survive a battle with that animal with only a shield on them."

"It's likely. And this torture chamber… certainly destroys the myth of the ancient Krolevans being a people who believed bringing no physical harm to another man. Instead, they enjoyed being spectators of men being ripped to shreds by these beasts…" George sighed. "I suppose we will have to begin with the survey of the city much sooner than planned."

"It has certainly been fascinating so far," Elizabeth responded. "I curiously heard of this story about a queen who apparently turned against her subjects in the Bronze City. Do you have something on that?"

"Um, no. There have been records of four women who have been the rulers of the City in different periods of time, but neither had done such a thing."

"I see… There's also a mention of a soldier named Gord who apparently prevented her from doing more harm."

"Gord…hm… there is a mention of a warrior with that name." George stood up. "Come with me," he invited Elizabeth.

She was taken to one of the exhibits in the main white hall. Beneath the thick glass was a silver dagger, its handle decorated with green leaves. "This was a gift to Destvia – a queen from the eighteenth and last dynasty. It was given to her by a warrior named Gord."

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth said as she examined the barely preserved material.

"They were very loyal to each other."

"Lovers?"

"Unlikely, more of a… deep friendship."

"Aha…" She narrowed her eyes. "What are those red spots?"

"Blood."

Elizabeth straightened up to this. "Blood? After so much time?"

"Yes, we didn't know what to make of it, just like we don't know what it is doing there."

"Could it be Destvia or Gord's?"

"It's possible."

"I take it you haven't found the remains of either of them?"

"No. But this is dated around the same time that the Bronze City began to lose its might…"

"So Destvia could be that queen?" Elizabeth observed the dagger. The mysteries that kept appearing in this city were pulling Elizabeth's curiosity even deeper into its dark depths.

* * *

Originally, she was supposed to visit the Museum of Natural History the following day, but when she accidentally took a left turn instead of a right one and ended up before its large doors, it seemed shameful to delay the visit.

A large bronze statue of a woman in silk, ancient clothing holding a small kitten in her arms stood next to the entrance of the yellow building with claw-shaped rocks.

Entering the surprisingly cool, air-conditioned building, she was met by a small woman with ginger hair and small blue eyes. She approached Elizabeth and smiled at her. "Can I help you?" she asked with her soft English.

"Oh, yes, I was told you have a specimen called the Ancestral Hunter on display here?"

"Are you Elizabeth Weir?" the woman asked her.

"Yes."

"Would you happen to have some identification documents with you?"

Finding this a little strange, Elizabeth showed her passport to the employee.

The small woman nodded to this. "Yes, this way," she gestured to Elizabeth to follow her.

Following her 'guide', Elizabeth noticed the same rocks decorating the interior of the museum. She noticed many displays of old animal and human bones, stuffed animal species like the giant Wildcat, the Brush monkey and many others. The number of visitors here had been a healthy one and most of them had been children much to Elizabeth's delight.

She was led through a narrow hallway which ended in a big oval room. "Oh, my…" Elizabeth whispered when she laid her eyes on the assembled bones before her. The giant cat-like creature stood six meters in height, its large opened mouth with razor-sharp teeth and claws too similar to the ones she saw in the Southern Wing. Elizabeth swallowed nervously at the site.

A door closing behind her momentarily distracted the archeologist. The woman then came up to Elizabeth. "We are not allowed to show this exhibit to the public yet," she said.

"Why is that?" Elizabeth asked.

"More care is needed. But this will bring many visitors when it is finally revealed."

"No doubt it will. When was it discovered?"

"In 1956, twenty kilometers west of Kroleva."

"And it has been set up only now?"

"We had no buildings for old bones until several years ago."

"Mm. How old is it?"

"We estimate around forty-six million years."

Noticing the back legs were missing, Elizabeth focused on its front limbs. "It looks to have been a powerful animal," she said.

"Indeed it was." The woman looked at her watch. "Now I must ask you to leave. Visits are still seldom and short here," she said.

Elizabeth complied with this and allowed the woman to escort her back to the main hall after giving the fossil one last look. "Feel free to have a look at our current exhibits, doctor," she offered the archeologist.

"Thank you," Elizabeth replied.

She allowed her mind and eyes to wander around the museum and the specimens but it was brief. Elizabeth needed to put her thoughts down on paper so she returned to the hotel.

* * *

So many facts and so much work had overtaken her for the last two days. She wanted to contact John but was unable to because she had no idea where his residence had been. Even George Krevon failed to provide her with the address as he himself didn't have it. She even asked some of the women she had recognized from before but came out empty-handed there as well. Elizabeth was disappointed by this, as she wanted to share what she had discovered with him. Lately, his company had become of not only professional but personal importance to her.

It was close to seven in the evening. She found herself looking at a pretty dress in the shop window of a small boutique next to the hotel. Elizabeth hadn't had the chance to buy anything close to a souvenir in Kroleva since she arrived….

Later in the evening she entered the small restaurant close to the lake - a recommendation from the woman in the boutique as a place to unwind.

The faint orange glow of the small lights on each corner, the bar with a bartender no older than fifty; the chairs and tables had a nineteenth-century style to them; the guests were both young and old, talking, drinking, and mostly enjoying the friendly atmosphere. What surprised Elizabeth was the absence of cigarettes here. Something for which she was relieved as the last time she was a visitor of a similar place where smoking had been welcomed, the insane amount of smoke stung her eyes so badly that she could not stand remaining in it longer. Her dress and appearance earned her a couple of curious glances from some men and women in the restaurant, but they were brief. Looking for an empty table, hopefully by the window or the olive-colored walls, she saw an opened newspaper and some dirty boots beneath it. Smiling, she approached the table. "Catching up with world events?" she asked.

Putting the paper down, his face showed his surprise… a pleasant one. "Doc…" he said as he smiled and eyed her new appearance. "I see you've finally decided to dress up properly," he joked. "Or… dress down."

Elizabeth smirked. "I should say that I didn't expect to find you here."

"Really. I am surprised you recognized me."

Elizabeth nodded towards the boots and kicked one gently with her sandaled foot. "You can't miss them."

John gestured to the empty chair opposite his. When she sat down, he folded the newspaper and put it on the table. "I assume you coming here means you actually want to chill out?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Haven't heard that expression in a while. But yes. I figured I could use some after the last few days."

"Good." John smiled widely at this.

A dark-haired waitress with emerald eyes approached the table; her clothing looked similar to those of the tapestries but of a more revealing nature. She smiled at John and then eyed Elizabeth curiously. She spoke something to her but John reminded her that Elizabeth was still a long way from knowing the language.

"Ah!" the waitress took this with a dash of amusement. "_Beautiful_," she said to John. "_Why don't you bring more guests like her around here_?"

John chuckled. "_She found me_."

The waitress tilted her head before turning slowly towards him. "_Don't they all_," she said.

John shook his head to this and looked at Elizabeth. "What are you getting?"

"Oh, I –"

"No, wait," John interrupted her and then said something to the waitress in Delonian. Nodding to this the waitress looked back at Elizabeth. "_Such a shame_," she said and stroked Elizabeth's bare shoulder gently once before walking away.

Elizabeth looked after her, puzzled by the woman's gesture. When she turned back to John, he said, "She likes other women."

"Oh."

"How did you find this place anyway?"

"The nice girl at the boutique where I got the dress recommended it to me."

John glanced at the colorful fabric covering her skin. "Did you pick this dress or did she do it for you?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips to this. "You doubt my sense of style?"

"No, no… it's just… it's somewhat daring," he said of the design.

Elizabeth smiled secretly to this. "You would be surprised of how daring I can be at times… And that doesn't include jumping off cliffs," she told him.

Now John's gaze turned into a curious one. "Really."

"Yes." Two glasses of red wine were brought to them. Getting a taste of hers, Elizabeth's tongue and throat was gently caressed by its bittersweet feel. "Oh, this is good."

"They put the French to shame with this one," John said and took a sip.

Elizabeth licked her upper lip to gather in the drink's trace. "Well, having tried many, I can say they're pretty close." Putting the glass on the table again, Elizabeth's thoughts of earlier days came rushing in. "I discovered something very interesting about the ancient Krolevans," she said.

"Like?"

"I examined the evidence we gathered there and something about the hall with the cat images got my attention." She drew imaginary papers and objects on the table as she spoke. "That hall or Protector's Hall – as it was called - was a place where the Protectors were bred and raised."

"Oh, it looked big enough, but it was almost empty as far as I remember."

"Yes, I'm still confused over it. But, um, there was this particular engraving under one of the images that said something like… 'From beneath the earth they came back'… or '_flourished_ in life once again.'"

John's eyebrows pressed down in confusion. "From beneath the earth? Almost sounds like they were dead or something."

"Or perhaps they were at the brink of extinction and the ancients saved them from it. I mean, if they were that big, I can imagine them being hunted for their bones, fur, and maybe even meat… at least that's what I thought at the beginning."

"By the Krolevans?"

"No, by the other tribes. I didn't come across anything that suggested the Protectors to be a game of any sorts of the Krolevian hunters… But the absence of such evidence from what I know kind of debunked that theory of the other tribes.

The particularly fascinating part however, was when I went to see George with my findings."

"What did you find there?" he asked her.

"A record of a fossil almost identical to the animal bones we found in the Southern Wing."

"O-kay…" He listened as she continued telling him of her findings and a theory that seemed somewhat difficult to swallow, even for him. "You think they brought these… fossils back to life? Seriously?"

"Well, apart from the Bronze City there is no other evidence that they inhabited Kroleva during the time of ancients. So where did they come from?"

John tilted his head as his eyes and fingers tapped the glass. "I don't know, Elizabeth… that's…"

"Too hard to believe?"

"Yeah! It's pretty out there. Could they really have that technology? Twelve or more thousand years ago?"

"I know how crazy it sounds. I'm surprised at suggesting it _myself_, but what I saw in that hall…"

"You mean the giant cat that leapt out from the wall?"

"Yes, that."

"Did you find out what _that_ was?"

"Not yet."

"And you who isn't a fan of science-fiction theories," he teased.

Elizabeth glanced down in brief embarrassment. "I know, I know… I'm still not, though."

"Was there an explanation of how it was done? This reviving-the… dead-thing?"

"No, they usually keep records… in scrolls. They rarely have wall engravings."

"You'll need a lot of evidence to support that theory."

"Plenty." Elizabeth leaned back. "Maybe I'll get lucky during the second visit."

John smirked. "What did he say when you mentioned you wanted to go back?"

"George?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't mention it."

John's face turned serious. "Why?"

"I had a feeling he wouldn't have agreed. Besides, I could always tell him… I went on a tour of the west part of the jungle and… ended up in the city by accident."

John chuckled. "Your grave, doc."

"You don't recommend it?"

"Well, I do actually."

"Excellent." Elizabeth rubbed her hands together delightfully.

"And this queen…"

"Destvia."

"Destvia and the soldier Gord… very close friends?" he asked doubtfully.

"I had my doubts of that as well."

"I can't imagine them having that kind of relationship…"

Elizabeth smiled. "Well, whatever the nature of their relationship was, he succeeded in stopping her from doing more harm in the city like you said… but why she turned against her followers is… strange." Elizabeth thought back to the Protector's Hall. "But you should see some of the other fascinating facts I came across… it's uh, it's more difficult to explain them to you this way. You have to see the photographs to get a better sense of what I mean." Her excitement in what she discovered was being observed by John. "Maybe we should go back to the hot-" She stood up to leave when he caught her hand.

"Ah… how about we leave that for later?" He saw her sheepish and slightly puzzled expression. "You came here to relax a little, remember?" he reminded her.

"Oh, right," she chuckled nervously. "Yes… yes, I did," and sat down.

The melody and beats in the background similar to songs of South American origin became louder. They even reached Elizabeth's body as she began to move her shoulders playfully to the music. "Oh, nice."

"You like it?" he asked her.

"Mm." Elizabeth closed her eyes and continued to move as much of her body as possible to the music.

John leaned back in his chair, watching her. Sitting down, her upper body had caught the spirit of the song quite well. He chose not to interrupt her in this beginning. He could see the ease that was starting to seep into her, the sips her skin was beginning to take from the glass of this song, how comfortable she was in allowing herself to be this way. John wanted to see more. He stood up and surprised her by momentarily taking her out of her daze by grabbing her hand and gently pulling her away from her seat.

She followed him wordlessly to the wide, empty space of the restaurant where only one other couple was taking an advantage of the song.

At first she appeared timid. He smiled. John pulled her closer to him. "Let it take you again," he spoke with a low voice to her.

Elizabeth stared in his eyes as her hands gripped his shoulders. He held her too close. Perhaps it was the shadow from his black hair that made his gaze stronger for her; perhaps it was the seducing melody, or perhaps something else. "Don't I need more space for that?" she asked.

John smirked gently and let go of her body but held onto her hand. As her thin fingers tried to lightly free themselves, he shook his head briefly. "Don't want you to get away," he told her.

Elizabeth smiled to this. Listening to his advice, she allowed her body to give into the rhythm of the song. The thin dress made of pure silk, caressed her body beautifully with every swing of her hips, every swan-like movement of her arms, every gentle break of her torso, even every snap of her fingers. It didn't leave much to the imagination for John as he watched her body, unwillingly lured by its movements, more than the tame smile on her face. He could see her beautiful form, one she must've taken excellent care of. He would've been foolishly kidding himself if he didn't admit that his male nature responded to this. He squeezed her hand tighter. Elizabeth looked at him in response to it. "What do you know, archeologists do know how to dance," he said as he began to move to the music himself.

"Oh, we do," she replied and moved closer to him. "Join me," she almost whispered to him.

Her voice was too inviting for him and not only for the dance. He took an unnoticeable breath and captured her close to him. "Where did you learn?" he asked her. "Or is that just natural talent?"

She smiled seductively to this. "I just had a very good teacher in the past."

"Who?"

"An old boyfriend." Elizabeth brought her lips closer to his right ear. "You know what they say about those who know how to move their body perfectly to the music."

His hand traveled upwards on her back as she kept whispering to him. He enjoyed this playful side of her. "What do they say?" he whispered even though he knew the answer too damn well.

A soft chuckle was heard from her lips to this. "I have a feeling you weren't born with this either, John, so I take it … you know what I mean."

John smiled. "Oh yeah."

Their dance was observed from a distance by Gloria, the dark-haired waitress. When an arm hooked itself around hers, she said, "_Look at them_."

Another waitress with long hair and brown eyes watched them carefully. "_He learned well. A great pupil_," Felicia said.

"_You were late for work the following day, as I remember_."

The brown-eyed woman smiled to this. "_We had a few more lessons to finish in the night_," she replied. The two women exchanged a deep look.

"_Was he good?_" Gloria asked.

Felicia brought her cheek next to Gloria's, turning their faces back to the couple. "_You have no idea…_" she replied quietly.

"_I am more amazed at the way she moves_."

Felicia nodded. "_She must've had a good teacher as well_."

"_How long do you think it will take them before they reach the vertical level of the dance?_" Gloria asked, moving her hands alongside Felicia's arm.

"_He's responding very quickly to her_." Felicia smiled. "_It won't be long_."

Their bodies were already drunk from the music; their minds would follow soon if they continued this way, although neither objected to it.

A sharp tone of her voice suddenly interrupted everything. "John," she said and hesitantly stopped moving.

"What?" He moved his head to look at her and found her staring at something behind him. He quickly turned around and noticed Romeo entering the restaurant. They were searching for someone, and it took no longer than half-a-second for John and Elizabeth to know who was on their 'wanted list'.

"Would be a good idea to leave about now," he said, and with his arm hooked around Elizabeth's waist, they hurried towards the back entrance.

They met Gloria on the way. "_You haven't seen us_," he asked of her.

Glancing behind them, Gloria quickly understood. "_Go_," she told him.

John smiled and kissed her cheek. "Thanks," he said.

When they disappeared behind the red curtain next to the bar that led to the back entrance, Gloria approached the new 'guests', accompanied with a few of her colleagues. They greeted the men. It wouldn't be the first time John Sheppard needed some extra minutes to make his escape and the staff at this restaurant always helped him out. Friends, after all.

In the loud night, both made their way down the street with a fast pace. It had rained earlier, making the pavement wet and tricky at times. Taking a left turn, they stopped in their tracks when they saw a jeep with some of Romeo's gang. Quickly jumping back behind the corner, they carefully gave a quick look at the situation before them.

"Too many?" she asked.

"Yeah. Let's hope they buy Gloria's story."

Two pair of hands suddenly grabbed hold of John and Elizabeth. In the pitch darkness and unidentifiable noises, a white cloth quickly covered their mouths. The struggle and the sudden need for air made them inhale and then drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

This time it hadn't been the hard wood beneath her or the cold stone wall behind her. This time it was the leather exterior on which she sat, and a warmer, almost cushion-like surface where her head lay with a soft ticking noise beneath it.

Opening her eyes, Elizabeth saw the moving jungle trees slightly blocked by someone's breathing chest where her head had been. Moaning softly, she moved her head away and attempted to sit up straight. Two men in the front seat and two in the seats behind Elizabeth's told her what had happened. Next to her, John was sleeping. The bound hands gave her less freedom to move, not to mention the two guns behind her as well. Elizabeth's skin shivered violently when the cold wind hit her body with the thin dress giving scarce warmth. Having no other choice, she moved in closer to John to ease her body's need for some heat.

The next time she looked at his face, John's eyes were already opening. He came to much quicker this time and wasted no time in letting out a few profanities. The lack of space forced him to look at Elizabeth next to him. "You alright?" he asked.

"Sort of."

One of the men in the front turned around to look at the prisoners. "You could have given me a bloody coat, you know!" Elizabeth told him.

The man laughed with a smile that showed a couple of golden teeth and then turned around. He then exchanged a few words with the driver which resulted in repeated laughter.

"I didn't know my request was that funny," she muttered.

"Apparently you resembled a porcupine with the way your body reacted to the cold," John told her.

"Funny," Elizabeth spoke sarcastically.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of tied palms, John sighed. "Getting warm enough?" he asked her.

"Yeah, sorry, this dress is not exactly freezing-wind-proof," she replied.

"Right." He groaned and glanced behind him. "Hi," he said and looked ahead again. "Sneaky bastards," he then added.

"I assume they didn't buy Gloria's story," she said.

John only lifted his eyebrow tiredly to this.

The ride didn't end at the familiar farm but a small camp site. Apparently the men were unfamiliar with good manners as they pushed Elizabeth out of the jeep, forcing her to fall on John. "Hey, watch it!" she spat at them. Her annoyance was only met with laughter from them.

Walking on the dirt, Elizabeth's feet became engulfed in it, as the sandals she wore were not exactly suited for this place. They passed by the large fire and the heat forced Elizabeth to stop next to it, but she was rudely pushed forward by the men. They were led to a green tent and shoved inside, where the entrance was soon closed and two shadows showed the presence of two guards standing before the entrance. "No damn manners whatsoever," Elizabeth said and cursed.

"Don't let it surprise you," he told her.

"This is your friend Romeo's doing again?"

"Abducting people in the town is not really his style, but then again, times change."

A short time later, it was Juliana who came inside the tent. "At least they handled you right," she said as she eyed the 'guests'.

"It's not without complaints," Elizabeth responded to this.

With a cold expression, Juliana threw one last look their way before quickly exiting the tent. It was only several minutes later that she returned with clean clothes and a pair of boots in her hands. "Here." She threw them at Elizabeth who barely managed to catch them with her bound hands. "You'll freeze to death otherwise in that."

"Any chance of untying me?" Elizabeth called after the woman who was about to leave.

Rolling her eyes, Juliana pulled out a sharp knife which she used to cut the thick rope around Elizabeth's wrists with ease. She then turned to John to cut him free but then paused. She watched the man for a while with her trademark cold look for the evening before shaking her head. She cut the rope and then left them alone.

Rubbing her wrists, Elizabeth watched the entrance. "She doesn't seem to like you very much."

"She does, she probably just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." When he turned around, he noticed Elizabeth looking at him expectantly. "What?"

"You don't really think I'll provide you with a free peep-show here, do you?"

John smirked and spun around once more. They waited in the tent with the small lantern and two short beds for a while.

"Any magical escape plan this time?" she asked while folding her dress. The pants, shirt, boots and jacket that were given to her by Juliana would have almost given the impression of kindness if the malicious intentions behind it weren't known.

"Let's see…" John slowly poked his head through the tent's entrance. The moment he did so, two end points of two guns greeted him two inches away from his eyes. Pulling his head in, he sighed and nodded slowly. "Not really," he said.

Elizabeth sat down on the bed. "We wait then." The other moving shadows around the tent gave less hope.

"Yeah." John sat down on the other bed. "Guess they want those tapestries pretty badly. How much is their real price anyway?"

"Around 600,000 U.S. dollars… on the black market."

Now John whistled to that. "That's a lot."

"Yes, it is." Elizabeth rubbed her hands slowly as she spoke. "Went to the police before to report theft of my equipment… didn't do much."

"They're not very efficient around here," he said.

"If I had known that, I wouldn't have bothered waiting for two hours at the station before they finally got around to taking my report," Elizabeth replied.

They were paid another visit by Juliana who brought two plates of hot food for them.

"You're bringing them yourself? Did Romeo demote you?" he joked.

Her cold expression unchanged, Juliana walked up to him and slapped him across the face too hard. "Eat and rest. We leave early tomorrow," she said and quickly walked out.

"I forgot she never took a good tease lightly."

"Or her temper is even shorter than Romeo's," Elizabeth responded. "Hurt much?"

"Somewhat." John touched his cheek. "Ow. But wouldn't be the first time I get slapped on the face either."

Elizabeth shook her head and then picked up her plate of food.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

The ride in the jeep began back to the Bronze City the next morning. John tried to get some information out of Juliana but neither she nor anyone else was willing to share anything with him or Elizabeth. The road soon turned into a familiar path for Elizabeth, reminding her of the one they took to reach the village. She wondered if…

"Stop!" Juliana then shouted. When the first jeep came to a halt, she jumped out if it and hurried behind the bushes. Soon enough she began calling some of the men.

"Damn," Elizabeth thought. She found it after all. When two of the men returned, they pulled Elizabeth out of the jeep while the ones sitting in the front seat made sure John stayed in his place. She was brought to the same tall rock with the warning engraved on it.

Standing next to it, Juliana nodded towards it. "Read it," she ordered the archeologist.

Feeling uneasy, Elizabeth crouched down and touched the stone's surface as if it had been the first time she had seen these engravings.

"And, no lies," Juliana reminded her.

Elizabeth looked up at the woman. "It's a warning," she told her and stood up. "You're not allowed in there if you're not a member of the Emperor's court."

Juliana smiled for the first time. "Good." She then said something to the others. The engines to all five vehicles were turned off, and footsteps, voices, the unloading of crates and other materials, were all heard in the background.

Elizabeth knew what all this meant as she turned back to look at Juliana. "You knew what the letters meant," she said.

"Yes, even though my ancient Krolevian is not as … good as yours."

When John joined them and saw the stone, he sighed annoyingly. "Oh great."

"Plans change," Juliana said.

"It's not as if you let us in on what the original one was about anyway," he told her.

Juliana laughed. "You both like to explore and here's your chance."

"Yes, and having you to keep us company will make it all the more 'pleasant' for us," he replied. Instead of giving him a response, Juliana ordered four of the men to push the big rock.

Dust and darkness greeted them once the heavy rock was removed. "So, who's going in first?" John asked. A flashlight was thrown at him and one for Elizabeth to catch. Looking at it, he licked his lips and sighed. "Or how about I keep my mouth shut next time…"

Elizabeth was the first to set foot inside the tunnel when an arm in front of her prevented her from going further.

"No," Juliana said. "She is more valuable to us… You go first," she told John.

"Nice to know I'm valued around here," he replied sarcastically.

The white circle-shaped light revealed stone steps leading down. The unexpected amount of age-old dust forced him to cough out a couple of times as he slowly made his way down the stairs.

It took some time before they finally saw the end of the stairs where the majority of the brown ground was covered in water. The depth was shallow as they began walking in it. The walls made of brown bricks revealed nothing to the visitors in this almost too narrow of a corridor. As they walked, the ground became higher and the water level lower. A door almost crushed by time and human beings before, stood at the end of the corridor with pieces of fallen rock and dirt.

With the help of two men, John removed the rubble, allowing this 'expedition' to continue.

They came inside a large room with thick pillars made of bronze and on their surfaces images of sharks and serpents engaged in fierce battles. In the middle of the room was a large green circle mosaic on the floor and when Juliana stepped on it, the room suddenly lit up. A hollow animal growl and a human voice echoed from an unknown source.

"What was that?" Juliana asked searching with her flashlight despite the uselessness of it.

"This part of the city – if we're close to the Southern Wing – should be haunted."

"Ghosts?" Juliana looked at him.

"In other words."

The woman shook her head. "Only in children's tales."

"_Perhaps Sergio was right_," one of the men said cautiously.

"_Sergio was always a superstitious fool!_" Juliana warned him.

"About what?" John asked but received only a glare from Juliana before she turned her back.

Elizabeth gingerly approached John. "Haunted?" she asked with a whisper.

"No, I just made that up… although that huge cat we saw on our first visit is beginning to give some credibility to it," he whispered back. The disturbing sounds were repeated followed by two deeper ones. "And that."

The room appeared empty with only a few broken vases and dishes. It gave Elizabeth an impression that someone rushed in a hurry through here.

"Keep moving," Juliana advised the two and the other fifteen men that followed them.

The rooms which came after this one seemed even more chaotic. Here too, were crushed vases, ripped tapestries, damaged shelves and even rugs.

The door of the last room led to more stairs going up. More dusty darkness met them at the other end. It felt like another large room, a hall maybe….

The sudden burst of light agreed on the assumption that this was another hall… but a hall filled with scrolls – many, many scrolls. Bronze, old shelves on pillars more than two-hundred meters tall surrounded the visitors.

But it was at the top of these shelves that ten pairs of dark, animal eyes observed them, unbeknown to the visitors.

"My God…" Elizabeth's jaw dropped in awe as her eyes took in this remarkable find before her. Mixed with the floating particles of dust, the sections that were distinguishable by large images on triangle plates with writings beneath them, housed thick volumes of paper in many different colors. "So it _does_ exist!" She spoke quietly, unable to suppress a grin of wonder and amazement.

The floor of this elliptical-shaped hall featured a mosaic of two gray felines shown to guard a bronze-colored, opened scroll.

"Explains why they didn't write much on walls," John spoke, astonished by the size of the library.

Everyone observed this place with astonishment, but it was Juliana who seemed somewhat skeptical. "This looks like the place where they stored all the records of the city, Weir?" she asked whilst observing the images on the plates.

"It has to be. The Library of Time," Elizabeth replied. On one plate was an image of a two hands – male and female – joined together with '_Names_' written bellow; another had and image of the sun and moon and _'Days'_. The categories were many: from architecture to art… to war and strategies.

"What do you know, they did have something on the military," John said, approaching that section. "About a thousand records at least…" He placed his hand on the first green scroll and gently moved his fingers across it to make sure it felt as steady as it looked. He then pulled one out with the size of a pumpkin. The state of the paper was incredible, preserved almost perfectly by the forgotten time in this hall.

Shining a flashlight over the text, Elizabeth stood close to him. "It's a… record of a battle … one of many with the Wood tribe." Touching the paper, Elizabeth shook her head slowly. "The quality…"

John looked up at higher shelves. "How do you suppose they reached the upper ones?"

"I don't know," she replied. There were no ladders or stairs visible. "What I also find strange is the lack of evidence of how this library was guarded…" Elizabeth stepped away and then slowly spun around, looking for clues. Surely there would be something to indicate that this important hall was well-guarded. Her flashlight beam slowly traveled down to the floor. She sighed sadly. These people had an enormous admiration for these creatures.

On the white surface of the scroll where her foot had been, Elizabeth noticed something in tiny letters. Whispering the translations, she kneeled next to them. "John," she then said alarmingly. "Put the scroll back where you found it."

"Why?" he asked, still looking at it.

"Just do it!" she quickly stood up. "All of you! Don't touch them!" she shouted at the other who had gotten their own curiosity for the written documents.

"What did you find?" Juliana asked her.

Pink gas emerged from the floor in front of the shelves where the scrolls had been removed. Those who didn't run away suddenly fell on the floor when the gas entered their lungs.

"What was that!" Juliana demanded.

"Apparently we didn't pass their security check," Elizabeth replied. She was relieved when she found John next to her, managing to escape the strange gas that went no further than the narrow space next to the shelves before disappearing again.

"Ground or sky…" Elizabeth nodded to the floor, reading the rest, "they protect the records of time from those who do not belong here."

Seeing the four men who had already died sent an uneasy feeling through Juliana. "Why didn't you read that before!"

"It was not easy to notice," Elizabeth told her.

The brown-eyed woman was not pleased by her answer. She grabbed Elizabeth by the throat and pushed her to the ground. Two men held John back, preventing him from doing anything. "Next time, give an earlier warning, Weir!" she hissed at the archeologist.

Beneath her grip, Elizabeth tried to nod. Releasing her, Juliana stood up and distanced herself from the two. "We go," she told them, turning slightly to tell the others.

The circular floor of the two cats suddenly opened, swallowing John and Elizabeth inside its darkness. When again it closed, Juliana stood there, unsure of what had happened. "Perhaps this city _is_ cursed…" she whispered before cursing out loud.

* * *

John's heavy breathing was the only sound after the brief chaos of screams, falling rubble and somewhere… the flow of water all circling around her in the darkness when they fell. She called for him; he responded.

"Guess that's the ground part…" he said. "You know, you'd think that all these mechanisms of theirs would start malfunctioning after five thousand years."

Elizabeth rubbed her neck as she let out a small groan. Her hand reached behind her where she heard his voice. She wanted to feel his presence to make sure her ears were not jplaying tricks on her after the brief chaos of noises from before. His warmth was felt when she touched his shoulder; his hand took hers and squeezed it. "I'm okay," he replied as if he could sense her urge for knowledge of his state. She closed her eyes briefly in another form of relief by this.

Her eyes were then immediately drawn over to the white light of the undamaged flashlight next to the wall. She wondered how they survived as the ground beneath them was made of stone and the fall felt… strangely long. Elizabeth immediately grabbed her flashlight. She pointed it around them and found them to be in a small room. Directing it at the ceiling, she saw the hole between the rocks through which they had fallen before. In the absence of better lighting the rocks appeared blue, even gray at times.

A sudden sharp sound of metal turned their attention to the far right side of the room. A small pipe sticking out of the wall began spilling out some kind of liquid. As it began to fill the space and approach the two, it passed over an old human bone – devouring it in the process.

"Not good," John said as he and Elizabeth suddenly stood up. Taking his own flashlight, he scanned the room for possible exits but nothing came in view…except…

"Come on, I'll give you a boost!" he told Elizabeth, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. When she stepped on his hands, he lifted her up where she managed to get a secure grip on one of the rock's ledges and climb up. The dangerous liquid was approaching fast. Grabbing onto her hand, he managed to secure a foot on the wall before jumping up and grabbing the opposite ledge just when the liquid reached a dangerously high level in the room.

"That's some security system," she said with a heavy breath.

Looking up, John was dismayed to find the smooth walls of the tunnel too far apart to allow them to climb up.

"Hey, look," he heard her call to him. Following the light, he saw the end illuminating a man-made hole in the wall behind him. The size of it appeared big enough for a human to crawl through. "Well, this wasn't done by accident," he said and turned completely towards it. They entered the hole, crawling inside it, only to see an empty space at the other end with a drop that saw no end. There was only one rope connecting this end to the other, more distant one. Above him he only saw a ceiling of rocks. John turned off the flashlight as there was decent visibility here. When asked what made him stop, he replied, "How were you in gym class?"

"I did okay. Why? More vines to swing along?" Elizabeth asked.

"More of a rope," he said. Grabbing the rope, he pulled to both sides to make certain it was still strong enough to hold. "Makes you wonder how they put it here in the first place," he mumbled. Holding onto the old rope, John shimmied out of the hole and began hanging above the unknown height.

Crawling up to the exit, Elizabeth saw him slowly making his way along the only line connecting the two sides.

Only the hands and legs that held to the rope and the ceiling were in his view as he kept moving, but a sudden familiar noise suddenly forced him to move his gaze to his right. "What the - ?" Giant wings and a sharp beak zoomed towards him. He could not see the creature in whole but he felt the painful stab on his left arm. The brown-skinned, featherless creature attacked him repeatedly, trying to remove him from the rope. It was ready to strike once again at his eyes but a sharp rock suddenly hit its left eye. The creature let out a painful scream and spun towards the origin of attack.

Retreating deeper into the hole, Elizabeth watched, hoping her attempt to drive the winged creature away had worked. Instead of fleeing, the red eyes watched her as it flapped in one place, as if waiting.

Although feeling pain, John used this diversion and hurried along the rope which continued inside the other hole.

The winged creature looked prehistoric but no species she recognized; and it continued looking at her, waiting for her. Swallowing nervously, Elizabeth hoped desperately it would lose interest and leave them both alone. "John, are you alright?" she shouted over to him while her gaze was locked with the creature's.

"I'm wounded!" he shouted.

"H-how bad is it?"

"I'll survive!"

"Good…" Elizabeth whispered. She switched on the flashlight, pointing it towards the creature. It moved its head disturbingly to it but it lasted for a few seconds. Seeing what it had done to John, Elizabeth knew the chances of her passing this drop safely would be equal to nil as long as that sharp beak and claws were there.

Then suddenly it moved its gaze away, responding to something invisible. It then flew away, leaving the rope bare and somewhat safe. Using this chance, Elizabeth carefully grabbed a hold of it with her arms and legs. Slowly but securely she reached the other side where she noticed a small tunnel and a faint light at the end. Knowing that John had been injured, Elizabeth hurried to it and looked down below the opening on the other side. She saw the flashlight and a couple of feet away was John, sitting down and leaning on the wall.

When she reached him, Elizabeth examined the wound and was slightly disturbed at the site of some green saliva entering the ripped flesh. She wished not to do this but the bleeding needed to be stopped. As she tore off some of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around his arm, he flinched, trying not to let out a painful moan to it. "How do you feel?" she asked him.

"A little freaked out by what just went inside me," he responded to the sight of the saliva.

Elizabeth took out her flashlight and began scanning the room. The small artificial light couldn't provide much visibility and she only managed to see the legs of a stone table and some colorful images of different animals on the floor beneath it. On the surface of the table she saw numerous pots made of clay, others of green glass. She noticed a small diamond on the opposite wall. She walked over to it and carefully put her hand on it. As she did so, the floor suddenly lit up, improving the visibility greatly. Because her hand had remained longer on the precious stone, slowly the ceiling was soon lit up as well. Many objects, similar to the ones on the table, she saw on shelves that continued further down in what seemed like a long room. On the walls were many tapestries of different colors and rich with text, some even being decorated with "charts". On the smaller stone tables with engravings of many creatures of which she recognized only two – the cat and the "bird" from before, Elizabeth even noticed some opened scrolls and the silvery writing instruments next to them. She was, once again, amazed. "What does this look like to you?" she asked of the room, observing it like a child with candy.

"From here… looks like a lab," John answered.

Elizabeth nodded slowly. She approached some of the tapestries where images and text were shown of embryos and other stages of the feline's life; others displayed geographical data; while another had images of human wounds and steps of curing them. "This is unbelievable. They're like charts of what research they did. Biology, human medicine, geological surveys… Let's see what's in the other section…" She walked deeper into the other room.

Waiting, John leaned his head back in the silence. He wanted to show his amazement but his body was beginning to respond against his wishes as sweat began to leave it. "I was right!" he then heard her yell out in excitement from the other room.

"About what?" he asked.

"You have to come and see!"

"Not sure I can do that!" he told her. John heard footsteps before seeing her remerge in this first room once more. He saw her excitement change drastically when she approached him.

"Why are you sweating so much?" she asked worryingly, squatting down next to him. Trying to wipe the sweat from his forehead she felt his skin to be on fire. "Oh my God, you're burning."

"Funny, don't feel it. In fact, I'm freezing," he replied, trying to remain calm.

Elizabeth unwrapped the makeshift bandage only to see the wound being almost healed but the color of the blood being replaced by a combination of white and green. "Stupid bird really did a number on me," she heard him say. Elizabeth looked at his face: the countless times he swallowed the never-ending amount of thick saliva, trying faster to breathe. She secured the wound again, and then gently tried to wipe as much of the sweat away from his face. "Let's see what I can find around here." Leaving the flashlight with him, she hurried around the ancient laboratory, trying to find something that could aid them.

John groaned as his breathing increased. Whatever was in that saliva had sent his body through what felt like a whirlpool. He could not tell time anymore which was why he didn't know how much had passed before he saw Elizabeth kneeling down next to him with some glass boxes, stone instruments and other objects for which he felt too unwell to try and identify. Elizabeth broke one of the glass boxes with a sharp stone from where she took out two green and red leaves. He could only watch. Speech was out of his reach.

She put the leaves in the green glass bowl where she added a white liquid from a vial. She then broke another glass box that contained some seeds and bones. Elizabeth placed them in the bowl and began crushing them with a blunt, stone instrument. "How do you feel?" she asked while preparing the mass. Elizabeth looked up at him and saw his eyes closed. "Shit!" she tried to feel his pulse… and it felt weak. "It couldn't have spread that fast!" But remembering how many attacks he received from the creature, it shouldn't have been surprising. Uncovering his wound, she applied some of the remedy to it. Elizabeth swallowed, remembering what she had read on the tapestry. She took the sharper, thin silvery instrument, applying it with the remedy and then slowly inserting it beneath his skin. Watching his reaction, hoping this wouldn't add too much to his pain, she only saw his face be peaceful which alarmed her even more. She then tore away a part another part of her shirt and wrapped it around the treated wound. Removing her jacket, Elizabeth placed it behind his head to give him the smallest comfort she could, whether he could really feel it or not. Slowly removing her hands, she sat next to him, praying the remedy would work.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

A small itch on her arm made her scratch gently before her hand returned to the scroll. She then let out a yawn and glanced at the half-eaten green leaf that had been her source of food for the five days that she had spent in this laboratory. At least water hadn't been a problem; a small entrance to the right wall in the middle room revealed an old well with clean water. But she felt tired, really tired. Elizabeth used her time to study as much of what she had discovered here as possible, while also caring to make sure John's body would accept the remedy and survive. It wasn't easy with a sealed entrance and five days which felt more like five weeks. Actually, the entrance appeared easy to open, the same diamond buttons were next to it, but Elizabeth didn't wish to venture out on her own. She had gathered many records and brought them in the first room to keep a good eye on him, though his calm state, which hadn't changed since she first applied the remedy, was not much of a help and neither were the instructions she encountered on the tapestry and a small white scroll.

Elizabeth gently rubbed her forehead and looked over at where John was sleeping. She did all she could. "I'll be forever pissed at you if you die on me," she whispered and then returned to her other work. It wasn't right for her to be this tired.

* * *

The moment the medicine drowned in his changed blood, he became very aware of what changes were happening inside him. His body – every bit of it – was dead to the outside, but his mind was alive, and very much awake and aware. John's senses were devoured by slumber preventing him from feeling the changes, but his mind could see them. He could see the multicolored remedy being absorbed and carried across his body, he could see the remedy forcing itself to change him back, to bring him back; he could see all of this like in a dream, but somehow more real.

This went on for a very long time, when finally his senses began to awake one by one.

* * *

She could hear the screams behind the wall as she gripped her gun and held it tightly against her chest. Juliana didn't know why she still kept the weapon – it was useless against those things. She was lucky, crouching like this against the wall, breathing and sweating, having only a few scratches on her. She avoided them successfully. Another painful scream and more useless gunfire made her shut her eyes tightly and for the first time she felt like a little girl – helpless, alone, and very frightened. Those scrolls be dammed!

* * *

The first image he saw when John opened his eyes was Elizabeth's sleeping face next to his. A sharp sting from time to time in his arm would remind him of the wound but despite this … he felt well. He noticed some of the objects in this room had been moved. He imagined it was because of Elizabeth. He could see the tiredness on her face, telling him to allow her more time to sleep. Removing her jacket from him, John covered her with it. "Thanks," he whispered to Elizabeth. Standing up with the bandaged arm, John licked his lips and curiously started walking through the rooms, observing what had been left behind to be seen. He saw up close many of the tapestries which Elizabeth had described the first time. He found the well and the rich colors with which images of flowers and jellyfish had been painted on its walls; John sniffed it and then tasted the clean water. It was good, but he felt little thirst.

Entering the next room, John noticed the tapestry with an image of an injury strikingly similar to the one he had suffered from earlier. Below it he saw a large stone-built box of some kind. Noticing the crack only a few inches lower, he touched it with his right hand and pushed it up. An icy wave hit his face and upper body among the mist which arose. Fanning it away, he saw this to be filled with various instruments, vials, glass boxes containing different plant and animal part samples, making John think of this as some sort of freezer. He noticed the source of the cold to be some small pipes emerging from the thick wall. Closing the lid of the box, John turned his attention to the other "exhibits". Observing the objects and tapestries gave this man the impression that this laboratory was used to produce medicine and whatever else insured the protection of the city and its citizens. He also imagined those who worked here to be quite obsessed by their research … whatever it might have been. Nothing was stored properly here, but simply abandoned. Were they in such hurry?

The next long, gray tapestry which came into view left him doubting if what he was seeing – at least by the images – had been for real: fossils, with some resembling the giant cats, instruments and representations of blood cells, DNA, and for all it to end with an image of a strong, young specimen. "It's just like I suspected," he heard Elizabeth's voice behind him. John turned briefly toward her. "Hey, slept well?"

"Uh-uh…seven nights in a row." Seeing his puzzled look, Elizabeth added, "You were out for almost eight days, John."

"Oh." He turned back to the tapestry. "Thanks for whatever it was you did back then."

"Feeling a little better?" she asked and saw him nod. Elizabeth smiled slightly. "I took a look around while you were recovering. There are some pretty amazing things here."

"Good that you found something to occupy yourself with."

Elizabeth took his arm and began removing the bandage. The wound had almost healed completely. She translated the instructions correctly - thankfully. "You won't need this anymore," she said of the bandage. "That tapestry before you tells of how they managed to bring those fossils to life."

"You were right then." John moved his fingers across the healing tissue.

"Mm." She pointed to the tapestry. "Many of these terms are unfamiliar to me … then again, biology isn't my strong point, _but_ it's basically a … brief description of how this process occurred; the more detailed one is in the library scrolls unfortunately."

"So how did they manage to bring the thing … or things back to life?"

"Well," Elizabeth began as she pointed at the images of broken bones, "they found the remains in a cave underneath the city … actually, it was discovered when they were building the Southern Wing of the city." Her hand moved over to another tapestry that appeared to be a plan of the Southern Wing.

John saw it consisting of three levels. The first one having fourteen corridors and eighty-five rooms; the second level had eight corridors, two giant halls and sixteen rooms, while the third level had only one giant hall.

"It was just beneath where the royal chambers are. Now, those bones were in some sort of a see-through jelly mass. Apparently, they had the means with which to examine that mass and discovered materials which … for them, seemed sufficient in it to create a fertilized egg … not just one … because of the number of preserved genetic materials they found, it allowed them to make _several_ of them, and also learning to create their own as the trials went on." Her hand then returned to the first tapestry and over the images of young kittens. "The first attempts were failures but eventually they succeeded with four births. Pretty soon, they … uh, they reached a healthy number of males and females that were able to breed and reproduce."

"For some reason that sounds creepy. Everything was found in that see-through jelly?"

"Well, almost, but enough for them to create this."

"And that thing that attacked me earlier?"

"I didn't find anything on it … Oh, but I did find what that giant cat was in the Protector's Hall." Elizabeth motioned for him to follow her in the other room where an opened scroll lay on another table. John saw only text on the gray paper as Elizabeth explained to him. "It was a sort of a security camera, I suppose you could call it." Her finger went below a sentence as she read it. "They describe it pretty much as a 'Guardian sent from the heavens' to keep an eye over who came and went; a … divine gift."

"Not something they created?"

"Um… they say it was thanks to the Queen that they received this, among many other … ideas, which basically changed a lot about the way the city was organized and governed, I suppose. The purpose of that Guardian was to see whether those who came for the first time in the Hall belonged there or not; if they did then it would leave them alone but if they didn't belong there…" Elizabeth made an imaginary knife with her hand and ran it close to her neck.

"Nice." John kept looking at the scroll. "So, if whatever it was didn't stop it, it would've probably…" he made the same knife impression as her "... us too."

"I think so. I even found one confession saying that most of the scientists who worked on these new ideas weren't too happy with what she kept suggesting, so they did this pretty much against their will."

"This being that same Queen who turned against them?"

"Probably. Those records were written not that long before the city was abandoned."

They didn't stick around very long. Elizabeth took the small scroll along with her flashlight and then followed John to the small corridor outside of the laboratory's entrance. They saw another tunnel on the left side and stairs leading up on the right. Without hesitation, they chose the stairs.

Climbing those stairs up to the next floor led them to a room with the most decorated walls. A lonely carpet made of blue and green wool was on the stone floor, surrounded by feline, shark and serpent mosaics. Nothing else succeeded in catching their view. Another roar was heard from somewhere. "Well good. At least we have _that_ to keep us company here," John said as a response to it. Pushing the stone door shut just in case, they then moved their flashlights on the walls in the darkness. As he leaned forward for a closer look, he momentarily lost his balance.

"John?" she took his arm.

"I'm fine … don't know where that came from," he said and stood up again.

"Are you sure you're feeling better?" she asked with worry.

He looked at her and nodded. She could see the speck of uncertainty in his eyes – one which he tried to hide.

"Yeah," he told her. "But did it mention any side-effects for whatever you put inside me?"

"No. The medicine was supposed to remove the toxins of the saliva from your system."

"Okay, that sounds assuring," he replied and looked back at the walls. There were entire themes of nature entwined with those of the Bronze City. The giant felines were prominent on these colorful walls, along with men and women with rich clothing, of whom Elizabeth assumed were individuals with dignified and high status. The felines were mostly represented as guardians for these people; one was even shown as killing men of a different tribe viciously.

A cat with gray fur that stood on a rock overlooking the rest of the valley had eyes made of diamonds. Assuming this to be another way of turning lights on in this place, Elizabeth touched it.

Instead of light appearing, they heard a loud human scream and then the opening of stone gates at the other side of the room but invisible to the human eyes from here. It was when Elizabeth removed her hand that the floor of the large room began gaining light from special, triangular openings in the corners.

What they saw in the next room was not pretty. Fresh corpses, most disembodied, torn limbs scattered everywhere, blood, guts … chaos of a fresh kill. The stench was unbearable.

"This … this is …" Elizabeth tried to speak, stunned by the site. The strong stench of decaying flesh attacked her nostrils so hard, she had to cover half of her face with her sleeve.

"Beyond disturbing," John finished. He saw claw marks on most of the victims. "This was not done by a human." He narrowed his eyes. These were not Juliana's men; these poor souls were other outsiders.

When Elizabeth approached one of the bodies, the stench reached inside her stomach and furiously pulled out its contents, forcing her to turn around and throw up.

He turned around with concern for her but she brushed him away. "We better keep moving," he said and took her hand. And so they did. Neither could see the correct number of bodies. It was impossible to do that in this mess.

Wiping off the last bits of regurgitated food, Elizabeth said, "This part of the city didn't like being revealed to outsiders, it seemed."

Seeing some of the blood-stained tools on the ground made them think of these people as probably looters in this wide room that was once a gathering place for the royal family.

They saw a doorway with a torn, yellow curtain at the other end; but next to that doorway was an opened wall. Curiosity led them to it, deeper inside it where torn pieces of white gelatin were scattered everywhere. The circle-shaped entrance forced them to turn on their flashlights. Seeing traces of the gelatin – where it once was and where some of the remains had been now – told them about the possibility of there being a door made of this.

"This seems familiar to the kind they found in the cave, from the tapestry descriptions," Elizabeth said.

Both avoided touching it.

Beyond the entrance of blue stones was a much larger room with a strange smell. Inside it were ten bronze cages, very similar to the ones they had come across during their first visit; only these had green glass between the bars that had been hastily broken by something or someone in an attempt to escape. The cages looked old, but the damage seemed recent. Above the cages was a single blue tapestry with images of ten sleeping felines and some ancient writing beneath them. "'Peace…'" Elizabeth whispered, trying to translate the short sentence. "Or rest … no, it's probably peace … 'Peace to them until the slumber of the city is disturbed and the … writings of … time are revealed to forbidden … eyes.'"

"The library?" John asked.

Elizabeth and John lowered their flashlights back to the broken cages simultaneously. "Oh boy …" they both said and slowly looked at each other.


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

"We woke up these things?" John asked whilst looking at the large cages.

"Looks like it…" She shivered slightly, remembering the horrible scene of before. Elizabeth approached one of the cages where the strange smell was stronger. "What kept them alive for so long?"

"In the absence of modern, computerized surveillance, you have giant cats guarding your property… great," he said.

Elizabeth turned around. "But, if their sleep was disturbed when we entered the library," she paused, "what was that creature that we erm… _saw_ in the arena the first time?"

John thought about this for a moment. "It had to be one of these, but if it was … why didn't it attack us?"

Elizabeth nodded to this. John's loss of balance reappeared and he almost fell entirely to the floor. Elizabeth ran up to him. "Happened again," she said.

"Felt dizzier this time," John said, giving himself a moment.

This worried her. "Do you feel hungry or thirsty?" Elizabeth asked him.

John shook his head. "You'd think I ought to, but … no, I don't." He breathed in deeply and then returned on his feet once more. "I can't say that it's not causing some concern to me though," he forcefully admitted.

"Can we continue?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, yes, we can."

They exited the room and then hurried down the hallway with two large bronze doors waiting. The oval doors were decorated with two big images of felines standing upright on their back legs and facing each other; between them was the sun and inside it a shark trapped by a serpent's grasp. These two doors were certainly very different from the ones they had come across earlier. Elizabeth noticed red smudges – no doubt blood – close to where the doors met. On the walls next to these doors were two burning torches and one above the doors. This time it was Elizabeth who pulled out the torch on the right side. Both looked behind them at the distant scene of death as they turned off their flashlights. Then finally they pushed the large doors, which opened rather easily.

It was strong light which met them from the moment they stepped on the bronze floor; but light coming from the walls where more, but taller and elegantly thinner torches were aligned. They gave brightness to a large hall where every wall and the ceiling were covered in bronze. On the corners were tall feline statues quite similar to the images from the Protector's Hall, and just like them, their eyes were disturbingly alive. Each statue was at least ten meters tall. A special path made of black and green stone led to the small altar at the other end, where there was only a small silver bowl with green flame emerging from it.

When they looked up at the ceiling, they saw a painting with photographic realism of the entire Bronze City in great detail. Observed from afar, the shape in which it had been built resembled two feline eyes. Four tall watch towers close to four green stones were the large creatures stood bravely and cautiously, protecting the city from enemies. Looking back at the walls of this possible shrine, they saw representations of the sun, the repetitive appearance of sharks, and of course the four-legged animals which had been so prominent throughout this ancient city.

There were also the eight-meter high and ten-meter wide tapestries hanging from the ceiling. Snowy-white, the central tapestry showed a beautiful woman in fine, rich clothing standing in front of a kneeling feline, her hand on its black head. Behind the first animal were several more, lined up almost like an army. Beneath it was a simple description: _Her Royal Army_.

The tapestry to the left showed a young man with a pouch, sitting on the back of a gray cat with scrolls of many colors in his hands. The creature that carried him was pictured in a leap from one platform to another, and behind it were shelves filled with scrolls – so very similar to those from the library.

The tapestry on the right side of the central one showed a sitting feline watching ever so vigilantly over two human infants who slept on a beautifully-colored blanket. The other twenty one tapestries all featured these animals, with each depicted as either a protector of the city or simply a patient helper to the royal family and their subjects. Unsurprising by now, they were all in their usual excellently preserved condition. Elizabeth felt disappointed that she could not find some kind of description of how the ancient inhabitants of this place succeeded in creating such long-lasting materials; she figured some hints had to be in the library.

Below some of the wall images were small tables with various objects like knives, plates, small shields decorated with those familiar jaws, vases, and some scrolls. But they also noticed blood on many of these objects. There were traces on the floor, leading from the main gates. It didn't take the two visitors long to figure out what this meant. "They didn't like those looters running away with these," John said. "They must've caught them here."

Elizabeth had a different opinion as she observed the traces and remembered the horrible scene from before. Nothing gave a solid impression that this could be where the kill took place. "Or they were killed when they left this shrine with these artifacts," she said.

John took a good look at the objects. There wasn't only blood on them, but saliva as well. "They brought them back here," he added.

Elizabeth nodded. "And this looks like a sacred shrine…" she said as she took in the richness of the place. "Devoted to the Protectors, I imagine…"

"So, their purpose wasn't only to guard the city," John said of the cats.

Elizabeth approached the bowl with the burning flame. On the surface on which it had been placed were a paw ready to attack and that winged creature which had attacked John days before, engraved in it. She found it strange along with the question of how this flame had been lit in the first place. She knew that this ancient people kept no such shrines for anyone else, any spirits or even members of the royal family.

"How religious were the ancients?" John asked her.

"Well, they believed that the soul reached the heavens after death and thought of immortality as a great sin. But the facts of it all are still fuzzy and incomplete. Although, I think religion wasn't a big part of their lives."

"Not very common of ancient cultures?"

"Nope. By the way, come and see this," she called him.

When John did so, he narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me they worshipped that thing as well?" he said of the bird.

"I somehow doubt it. We barely came across mentions of it, but…." Elizabeth placed her fingers tenderly over the paw engraving, when suddenly five needles emerged from it and one punctured Elizabeth's index finger. "Shit!" she removed it quickly but not before a few drops fell over the engravings and the bowl with the flame. John quickly reacted to this by wrapping the wounded finger with a small makeshift bandage from his sleeve.

"Shit, that hurt!" she cursed again to this. The needles slowly retracted and the flame suddenly turned from green to red and grew considerably in intensity and size.

As they watched this, the main doors of the shrine began to quietly seal themselves until an inner lock secured their position for good, unbeknown to the two visitors.

"Okay, old rule of not touching anything starts applying again," John said.

They moved away from it, deciding to return to the main entrance. But when they couldn't pull or push the doors open, it gave them another, in the line of many, reason to worry.

"Guess we should get used to being locked in like this so often," Elizabeth tried to joke while they walked back to the middle of the hall. Then suddenly John grabbed her wrist, almost gluing her to him in a protective manner. She saw sudden alarm on his face as he stared in front of him. "What-?" she tried to ask.

"Just stay where you are," he said to her in a warning tone.

"What? Why?" She received no answer when she saw him looking around, barely moving with his guard on. "John?" Elizabeth called him.

Finally the green shade which was indeed more of a shadow in his eyes looked back at her. There appeared a speck of puzzlement to her reaction before he looked back at the wall. "Can't you see them?" he said.

She was confused. He still held onto her. "The wall?"

John shook his head. His eyes were not seeing the walls; his eyes were seeing ghostly, pale images of much larger animal eyes staring back at him and her. There were many – some high upon the surface of the statues, while most of them, in their large size, were on the floor observing them. "Them," he said more quietly and nodded carefully at the creatures.

But Elizabeth's eyes saw nothing but the solid structures around them. "I… need a better description than that," she told him.

"There's so many of them," he said.

"John, what do you see?" His behavior added another worry to this shelf of her mind.

"How can you _not_ see them?" he turned to her.

Elizabeth moved her head back. He appeared slightly irritated. She knew this would cause something unpleasant but she asked anyway, "Are you alright?"

It was now he who mimicked her movement. "They're everywhere! We're surrounded! They're-!" when he looked back at where his gaze had previously been, John went silent for a moment.

Elizabeth moved her head slightly and slowly to the side to catch a better look of his profile. With his parted lips and wandering eyes, he seemed so very confused. "What the -?" He moved his arm slowly across the empty space in front of him. "They were right here…" he almost whispered. It was finally then that he let go of her wrist.

Elizabeth took a step back. She saw him step forward and try to find something with his gaze. "Where did they go?" he asked quietly.

"John, _what_ did you see?" She asked with a voice that appeared more firm than she had expected it to.

"Those things."

"Which? The cats?"

"Yes!" he turned to her.

"How?"

"There were so many of them. They just stood there, watching us. Didn't you see them?"

Elizabeth shook her head to this.

John groaned. No, this could not have been his imagination. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty much, yes," she replied. She barely took a step forward. "What did they look like?"

"Well, big… _huge_, some of them." He paused, contemplating something. He then rushed toward her. "What did you put inside me?" he asked in a barely restrained tone.

"I'm sorry?"

"That so-called remedy of yours. When you mashed or whatever the hell you did with it. What was it made of?"

"Um…I, uh… mostly plants, can't recall the kind," she replied; his change of behavior was beginning to worry her more and more.

He pressed his lips and exhaled through his nose like a bull. "Were there any hallucinogens among them?"

"No, don't think so."

He appeared somewhat agitated by this. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," she responded calmly. "Although…not the best time to mention this but, it was mostly a…experimental drug."

He backed away from her and covered his face with his hands. "Now you tell me," he said as his palms started dragging themselves downwards along his face.

"I'm sorry. I only noticed that after I gave it to you. But you seem okay…mostly."

He looked back at her. If he could shout "Are you kidding me?" without it appearing like some strange manifestation of rage, he would have done it. "Loss of balance, hallucinations, lack of thirst or hunger… what's next?" he asked.

_Growing agitation_, Elizabeth thought. "I don't know," was her response.

The way John moved his jaw was a telling sign of his growing change of behavior. "Give me the torch," he then said.

"Isn't the light in this room and your flashlight enough?" she dared to ask.

"If it was, I wouldn't have asked," he told her. "Please, the torch," he repeated his request. She complied.

Taking it, John started looking around again, but this time more intently. "What's the point of locking us in here?" he asked.

It was the red fire in the silver bowl that answered his question as it suddenly began throwing sparks towards the feline statues, where a triangular hole in the cat's chest received them. Pretty soon white and green mist began to emerge from tiny holes next to their shoulders; it traveled straight in an invisible, narrow path to the next statue until it formed a rectangular rope, almost like a belt around the space where John and Elizabeth were. In a form of tiny leaks, smaller amounts of the mist began to travel toward an invisible meeting point in the center. When it was reached, a small cloud was formed from which tiny red drops began to fall on the ground. As more fell, the floor in the middle of that black and green pathway began to disintegrate. The rain stopped and a round hole in the floor was created. The mist disappeared shortly after. The middle pathway suddenly lowered itself several meters down. The parted floor then started moving further apart, creating small tremors along the way. When it finally ceased, it revealed dark steps going down.

Standing at the top of these steps, John tried to catch as much of what the torch provided for him as he could. His previous agitation had managed to tame itself for now. "Looks okay," he said and looked up where he saw those same ghostly faces from before. He shut his eyes and shook his head briefly. They were not real; they couldn't be.

Elizabeth tried to keep an eye on his change of behavior, but this sudden revelation stole her attention rather easily. They took the risk once again and descended down those stairs with John leading the way.

Many heavy paws stepped up next to the entrance, the tails moving slowly and the eyes watching those strangers go. They were not as ghostly as before, now.

After the last step was a wide tunnel. Beyond the flickering but bright light of the torch, beautiful wall paintings were revealed on each side. Young men and women playing with the Protectors; these were happy themes, making this a rather nice turn from the ones they had encountered before. A few were shown helping a feline mother give birth to her young, others nursing the kittens. Elizabeth was surprised to find such representations in this hidden place instead of somewhere more public and open. She asked John about his health. He responded with a simple 'Oh, fine.' Elizabeth assumed he was telling the truth.

As they progressed down the corridor, they could hear the sound of running water and even feel the smell. Touching part of the tunnel's wall, she felt these to be much older than the painted images on the higher levels.

Reaching the end of the tunnel revealed to them a river, a vast running river beginning with a waterfall from the much higher black rocks on the western side in this cave. This river continued over the sharp edges only several meters further in a form of another waterfall. The torch was of little use here as light from various and, at times, unknown, sources gave clear and much needed visibility to this place.

The two sides of the cave were connected with a bridge. Chains and plates made of gold stood quietly and calmly over the loud river. Beyond that bridge another tunnel awaited them. Stepping on the first plate assured them that it would be safer to hold securely on the chains so as to avoid falling in the river. John tried to see the height of the lower waterfall to his right but it was not possible because of the distance. When Elizabeth's foot reached the middle plate, she suddenly slipped. While trying to catch and hold on tightly to the chain, her flashlight fell in the water and her feet were almost touching the surface. Elizabeth saw John's outstretched arm and grabbed onto it.

"_Watch_ your step," he told her, sounding slightly annoyed as he pulled her up, accidentally much closer to him than intended. She simply nodded, feeling tamely insecure of what verbal response to give him.

Continuing inside the second and much bigger tunnel, they saw cobwebs on most of the walls, hiding the images behind them, while its tiny inhabitants were unwilling to allow a human hand to remove them. A disturbingly loud animal roar was heard very near, echoing through the tunnel. They spun around only to see an incredibly large cat-like creature charging towards them. "Oh, crap," Elizabeth uttered before she and John immediately began running though the much darker tunnel. They could hear the creature running, the earth nearly trembling under its large weight. They could hear the heavy breathing, which felt much more frightening than a thundering roar. She glanced behind her where the impish game of light and shadow gave a much distorted view of the creature. But she saw those large, white fangs that must've belonged to a jaw that could behead a polar bear easily. And it was fast, even for its size.

"There's an opened entrance!" John shouted to an opening of a room. Both desperately hoped for either a solid door or perhaps a way to escape this place. When they ran inside the room, the fading light revealed another chamber of the cave, but one which had stone platforms on different levels next to the walls. There were possibly bridges connecting them but they were gone now. Searching franticly, John noticed one heavy, stone platform just above the entrance, appearing more like a door. "Hold this!" he handed the torch to Elizabeth and then jumped to the lowest and nearest platform next to the one above the door. The way it had been pushed up and held by tight rope, he figured some weight and a sharp instrument would do the trick. The distance between the two platforms was not small but he managed. Once on the upper platform, the surface suddenly lowered significantly as a result of the weight. "The torch!" he shouted over to her. She threw it his way. He barely caught it with his right hand almost catching and absorbing the flame itself. As the intensity of the tremors increased, they knew the creature would burst in here in mere seconds. John held the torch next to the thick ropes, hoping the flame was strong enough to loosen them on time. "Come on…" he said at the time which seemed like forever. The rope finally gave in and the platform fell down, barricading the entrance. John was helped to his feet by Elizabeth, with both waiting to see what impact his action had on this.


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

What they managed to hear were some scratches and a tame growl, something unexpected. As they waited further, they heard no other noises. "Do you think it went away?" Elizabeth asked.

"Whether it did or didn't, we can't really check … not that I'm eager to do that," John replied, rubbing his shoulder.

"It was a Protector," Elizabeth said of the creature. "It had to be."

"If it was, I can't imagine this rock being strong enough to prevent it from breaking though." He searched for the torch but found only a weak and dying flame. When he picked it up, the last spark vanished. "At least it wasn't a fucking hallucination like before," he grumbled.

Elizabeth looked over to him. Somehow she wished it had been.

For the safety of their state of mind, they chose to believe that the rock had been strong enough, while keeping a decent amount of alertness. Being chased by that thing was nightmarish.

They used their time to see where these separated platforms led. The highest one was next to a leaf-shaped, closed entrance, but the closest platform to it had been fifteen meters in distance. On a round platform above the middle place, they saw writings or engravings in the wall with something sparkling next to each. There was no possibility of reaching the closest platform to them unless they had the sprinting capability of a flea… applied to a human, that is. They decided on the next best thing in this gray chamber: cracks in the wall.

To their so-called delight, there appeared to be many – though most were bizarre – so it proved a matter of choosing the right pattern and having the climbing capabilities to go with it. Because of the height, they chose to rest first as well.

* * *

When they stood later in front of the chosen pattern, both looked up at its length. "Who's going?" he asked.

"How are you in wall climbing?" she asked instead.

"Good. You?"

"I'd say okay."

"Won't be of much use if I went up there."

"Because of the writings."

"That's right."

Elizabeth looked back at him and huffed. She really counted herself lucky to have had some experience and being without a fear of heights. Putting her hand in the upper crack, she slowly began.

It took her a while, but an hour or so later and many, many feet higher she finally stepped on the high platform. From the ground she heard loud clapping. Walking gingerly over to the edge, he saw him at the bottom and wondered for a second if John was a lucky man standing on the safe ground down there below, or a poor soul who could come face-to-face with that beast from earlier any second if luck changed; while she would be safer here, if only for some minutes longer. She lifted her arms with hands formed into fists high in the air like she had just won a gold medal. She nodded and then walked up to the wall with the engravings. She was taken aback at the big number of separate descriptions with each having a diamond button beneath. "Okay," she breathed out. "Let's begin."

Standing there and waiting, John crossed his arms and looked up again. Suddenly a sharp, thick spike emerged from the left wall and straight at him. Jumping away in time, John saw the spike penetrate the opposite wall easily. Standing up, he looked over at the platform where Elizabeth was. "Hey! What was that about?" he shouted. John saw her head emerge.

"I've just started reading them!"

"Could you double-check what it is you're doing there first?"

"What happened?"

"That!" he pointed at the lodged spike.

"Oh," she whispered. "Sorry!"

John nodded tiredly and as usual, annoyingly to this. The spot where the spike had emerged had been the one where Elizabeth had started her climb earlier, making it now impossible for a second person to follow the same path or for her to climb down.

The summary of the writings, from what Elizabeth could make out, was a set of smaller spikes that needed to be lined up, down, left, right and across between the platforms on which smaller bronze plates would follow, making it easier to reach each platform from the bottom to the top. Of course, it wasn't very encouraging knowing that in order for those spikes to be activated, certain combinations had to be made in a correct order. Otherwise, if they were to be done in an incorrect order, some "unpleasant consequences" would follow, as one of the sentences had mentioned.

"Just so you'd know, I'm stuck down here until you make… whatever it is up there… work!" he reminded her.

"You'll have to bear with me, John! These are not easy instructions here!" she shouted back, whilst trying to translate the writings more accurately.

"Yeah, sure, take your _time_," John said quietly and exhaled with frustration as he ran his hand through his hair. The drug had made him more restless than he would normally be under such circumstances.

He walked over to the door and carefully brought his ear closer to the surface of the stone. He could hear a faint but noticeable growl. If he hadn't known better, he would have imagined that it had wished to trap them here. It was not plausible for it to not catch them fast enough as John imagined it could have easily done so. He exhaled and tapped the rock, wanting more to hit it with his fist.

He then heard one of the platforms on the eastern wall move. From the crack which it revealed, a sharp, metal disk suddenly burst through and started spinning around the lower parts of the chamber. Being on a higher level, Elizabeth appeared out of its range, but unfortunately the same could not have been said for John. By the time she looked down at the situation, the disk had returned to its original place and Elizabeth's eyes landed on John's displeased face. "Not the right combination then?" she tried to sound cheerful.

John didn't try to reply in that way as he shook his head to this.

"Damn," Elizabeth sighed and returned to the controls. The next two failures had forced John to avoid tiny, poisonous spikes from the floor and then yet another, but bigger spinning disk. He was beginning to feel like an unfortunate laboratory test subject.

"Having fun?" he asked her.

"These controls are too confusing," Elizabeth admitted. "I'm just going by luck here…"

"Well, that makes me feel better!"

Elizabeth's next 'choice' however, appeared to be a successful one when smaller, steel spikes suddenly emerged along the walls, connecting the platforms. She exhaled and smiled in relief. "Step one completed!" she shouted down.

"Good! Now what?"

"Now…um… well, I'll have to get the plates to appear!"

"Try not to kill me while you do that!" he said to her.

Her next try made a crack in the old ceiling. As the crack widened, it revealed an enormous rock being held by two metal chains. The chains broke and the rock plummeted down. John jumped on the first platform as soon as he could at the same time when the rock shook the earth as it made contact with the ground. "Elizabeth!" John shouted furiously at her.

Elizabeth watched the dust settle around the huge rock, her heart racing at what might have happened. At least the size of it had been such that it blocked the entrance entirely, making it impossible for the creature to come in. _I suppose this was not meant for just anyone to reach the upper door_, she thought. "I'm trying, John!"

"Try _harder_! You're the damn expert in this!"

She could tell the anger on his face even from this distance. If the drug hadn't made him this edgy, then after what he had tried avoiding in this chamber certainly would have made him this way. "I'm doing that," she whispered and returned to the controls for the hundredth time. Elizabeth studied the controls longer this time, as the traps were becoming more deadly and dangerous with each attempt. It had been the different dialect in these writings which made it much harder for her to get a precise translation out these letters, which to the outsider, would seem like a disoriented and wacky mix of lines, circles, waves, and other strange forms. She then pressed the first four crystals in the second row, the two last ones from the tenth rows and the middle one in each row. She took a step back and waited in silence.

The next sharp sound that flew by her caused her eyes to follow it and see thick bronze plates emerge quickly from the walls, one by one, closing the gap of empty space between the platforms. She closed her eyes and tried to smile as she kneeled down on the floor and covered her face. She had translated correctly, somehow.

Climbing on the steady plates, both kept to the wall.

When they finally reached the now opened upper entrance and then passed through it, they found themselves in a much smaller, more modest chamber. She turned to John; his eyes seemed calmer, his agitation pulling back once more. Elizabeth wished to ask, but didn't.

Only one small torch stood against the rugged wall. Two bronze tables with small engravings of serpents were placed on opposite sides. On the other end was another closed entrance. On the left table they saw an opened blue scroll. Coming closer to the table, they noticed a golden ring and a sword placed upon it, covered by thick cobwebs. Removing them carefully, Elizabeth then picked up the sword – its blade still sharp; she placed the sword on the side and then took the ring with a beautiful engraving of a feline in battle. When her eyes landed on the scroll, she saw small writing. "_I will not allow the evil spirit to devour this land like it had devoured her soul. I will not allow the blood of my people to be drained by time and hatred. This sacrifice I have made willingly. May the souls of those who guard us in the heavens forgive me_." Elizabeth was puzzled by this. By the artifacts, she imagined this writing to be made by a soldier. Who, though?

On the other table was a bronze bowl covered by dust brought on by centuries of slumber, the inside of which looked burned. Next to the bowl was a broken tablet made of bronze and silver. On the back of the tablet was a barely visible engraving of a face – half feline and half human. Elizabeth couldn't help but picture some kind of ritual being performed here. Her thoughts were again immediately interrupted when the closed door suddenly dropped down, clearing the entrance.

What they found on the other side was a chamber very different from the ones they had previously passed through. Smooth gray walls, with perfectly elliptical tunnel entrances – some higher and some lower – almost unreachable. Before the two visitors was a perfectly chiseled gray stone platform going straight through the chamber to the presumed exit on the other side. What appeared less comforting was the site of the emptiness below that path, so agonizingly similar to the one where they had encountered the winged creature days before. The pathway itself seemed only wide enough for one person to walk on it, with nothing to hold them back in case of an unfortunate fall.

Unable to return, they decided to risk, yet again, moving forward. As usual, John was the first to go. Turning on his flashlight just in case, he moved slowly on the grainy surface. The light barely reached the tunnel entrances but from the stone surfaces' own luminosity he could clearly see them and the shadows which obstructed the inner walls of the tunnels. At one point his observation briefly blurred his orientation and he came off-balance, falling off the platform.

What he had expected to be a long fall turned out to be nonexistent. His back fell on another smooth surface next to the platform; in fact, it appeared connected to it. He quickly turned to the side and touched the surface – it felt like glass, but it was unnoticeable to the eye, because if his body hadn't felt the material, he would insanely believe that he was simply… stuck in thin air.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Yeah." John got on his knees and tried to look deeper behind this surface. "Whoa, this is really weird," he said while moving his hand across the glass.

"No kidding," Elizabeth replied. "What is that?" she asked about whatever he had been kneeling on.

"Feels like glass," he told her. John then brought his flashlight closer to it. "You see that?" he asked her.

Curious, Elizabeth very carefully stepped away from the bridge. Her feet felt solid ground but her mind had the impression as if standing on air. "This really does feel weird," she said.

"Aha," John nodded whilst continuing to look beyond the glass and then motioned for her to join him. When Elizabeth got down on her knees, he pointed at the distant moving objects down below – ones which could barely be seen.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Looks like…" John brought his face closer to the surface. "It looks like some steel mechanism or something." Lifting his eyebrow, he took a wild guess. "Control room for the wild contraptions and such around here?"

"By now, it honestly wouldn't surprise me," Elizabeth responded, her face only an inch from the glass like John's.

Then, from one of the higher entrances, they heard that eerily familiar animal growl. Before either could look, two giant felines leaped through the shadowed entrances and onto the floor. Not allowing the 'visitors' to contemplate a quick escape plan, eight more leaped from the other entrances, with this surrounding the humans.

They appeared enormous; their size almost equivalent to the one of the fossils Elizabeth had seen back at the museum. With their large paws, they could easily disembody several people with just one swing; their jaws closed but the thick, white fangs which peaked through the furred mouth gave a good sense of what they were capable; their eyes shimmered with colors ranging from strong green to devouring black. Some of these felines were white and others gray, but all appeared strong and focused on the two 'visitors' or intruders. Glued with their backs to each other, John and Elizabeth were defenseless against these guardians of the city's secrets and neither dared to move. They could see parts of their fur stained by, no doubt human, blood. That same hollow breathing and uneven growl which had caused their skin to crawl from the distance, was now so close like death itself. A white specimen began approaching them, slowly. It let out a snarl to which the others responded.

"Well, one had to wonder when they would find us, eventually," John said about them. Whatever glass material the surface of the floor had been made, it had to have been one hell of a good one to withstand the huge weight of all ten animals.

The feline came so close to Elizabeth that its large head was only four inches away from hers. Its dangerous green eyes watching her, perhaps studying its prey one last time before that giant claw snatched whatever life was left from the victim. She could feel the hot breath as it irritated her sweating skin, the incredible feeling of panic she desperately but unsuccessfully tried to keep under control. She could even smell the remains of blood. Staring at its predatory eyes, Elizabeth now clearly understood why the mere thought of these ancient creatures had such a primitive effect on her before.

The feline revealed its sharp teeth followed by a tamer but dangerous growl, except then something else suddenly overshadowed that frightening noise: a loud roar from somewhere, echoed in this chamber. Following the sound with its ears, the feline suddenly looked away somewhere along with the other nine beasts. The roar repeated itself, and the felines reacted with higher vigilance and began pulling away from the two humans. They then quickly leaped back to the entrances from which they came.

Finally alone, John and Elizabeth continued standing back to back, trying to take in what had just happened. Their wet skin and their furiously beating hearts were not helpful as their eyes looked up at the quiet tunnels. "Are you okay?" he asked as he tried to take her trembling hand.

"No, no…" she replied. The fear was still there. They didn't know and frankly, didn't care what called off these beats. What they knew now was a chance to run to the other side of the chamber and away from them. The door there didn't need to be touched, it somehow pulled down by itself like the previous one, and had they not experienced something so surreal earlier, both would question the cause of this.

When they stepped through the entrance, another magnificent hall awaited them. It resembled the Protector's Hall at first, but it had thick, round pillars painted with red and green, with serpents and sharks, with the Protectors and the sun. Those pillars held a round terrace high up. Behind the pillars were long, white stairs leading down to four entrances: one on the south side, one on the northern, one on the western and one on the eastern side – where John and Elizabeth were. As they climbed on the white stairs, they suddenly heard the doorway through which they came shut itself once more. Exchanging a look, they saw this to not mean good news. Continuing up, they then saw the large, bronze floor with a black, metal tomb in the middle. As they observed what they had come across, something else with primal eyes was observing them from the higher terrace.

Next to the tomb they saw Juliana. John noticed the bruises on her arms and as she turned around, alarmed by the presence of others, he saw the overwhelming vigilance in her eyes and face. "Juliana?" he called her.

"Do not come near!" she warned him and aimed her gun at them. They could only imagine what must have happened to the rest.

Elizabeth meanwhile noticed the bronze plaque on the tomb. She read a warning. When Juliana reached for the lid, perhaps to remove it, Elizabeth yelled, "Don't!" Juliana ignored this as she turned back to the tomb.

Opening the lid of the tomb, a bright, yellow and green light was found on the bottom. There were no bones but that glow. "What is this?" Juliana wondered as she watched the glow and how much brighter it had started to become. Suddenly it caught her throat, nearly choking her, only to seep into her mouth and disappear from view.

Standing on the side, unwilling to approach her, John and Elizabeth only observed this disturbing sight.

Coughing, Juliana held herself against the wall of the tomb. Trying to breathe in, she shook her head and blinked several times as her hunger for air increased. Her eyes suddenly fell on her right arm where a black, slick, thick mass was beginning to overtake the color of human skin. Panicking, she tried to remove it but the mass only spread faster until it engulfed her entire arm before moving onto the other parts of her body. She shouted, even begging for the other two survivors to help her but her calls went unanswered as the uncertainty of the situation held them back. Her shouts ceased and there was silence as her eyes closed and her feet rooted themselves in one place. Her breathing slowly returned to normal.

"How do you explain that?" John asked.

"I don't know anymore," Elizabeth replied.

When Juliana opened her eyes again, they took in the sight of the room for the first time. Then, franticly they began to search for something. Suddenly, she turned her face towards the two. Stretching out her arm before her, she held her palm up and began walking towards John. His need to step away was stopped when she came closer to him. Bringing him to his knees, the invisible force from Juliana's palm paralyzed him. Before Elizabeth could react to this, Juliana suddenly took Elizabeth's face with her hands, holding it firmly. Her grip was far too strong for Elizabeth to break free from it, as her brown eyes, filled with desperation, looked into Elizabeth's without a word. Feeling a sudden, raw rush inside her head, Elizabeth screamed in pain.

The poisoning of her mind seemed to go on forever, and Elizabeth's heart felt unable to survive it for another minute… when a sudden noise of gunshot fire was heard, finally releasing her from Juliana's grasp.

Both fell to the floor. Rushing over to Elizabeth, John put the gun away and then knelt next to her. "You okay?" he asked her.

Holding her head with her hand, Elizabeth shook it slowly. "I… I don't know… mmm… uh…" Slowly she opened her eyes as she was being helped to her feet by him. Swinging her arm over his neck, John turned around to bring her to one of the pillars and far away from this strange woman. As he did so, a large creature suddenly leaped down before him, cutting off his path. "Oh, shit…" he whispered.

The black fur hiding the strong muscles, the sharp claws, and those eyes… those green, but yet familiar eyes. The last time he saw those eyes had been in a much darker, unclear space, and the last time those eyes ignored him. But not this time as the feline creature began walking towards them, growling. It appeared smaller than the Protectors but appeared no less dangerous; and it looked angry… very angry.

The primitive instinct kicked into them both, urging them to run away but all they, and particularly John who was physically more aware, could do was slowly begin walking backwards. Then suddenly, the creature leaped towards them, but instead of a kill, it pushed them aside so violently that both fell to the lowest floor, their bodies rolling over to the wall – immobile.

Recovering from the injury that healed itself too quickly, Juliana returned to her feet, only to come face-to-face with the black creature. "You!"

Approaching her carefully, the beast growled.

"I killed you…" Juliana spoke.

"No, you imagined you did," he replied in his snarl.

Instead of panic, she grew confident. This was no longer the woman from outside; she was different now, a darker being… like him. "You cannot kill me. You will fail again," she told him.

"I was different back then. I am human no more."

Juliana smirked. "You still have the weakness, Gord."

"She is no longer there."

"Oh? Are you that certain?" she dared him.

"Yes!" His growls became louder. "You devoured Destiva's soul long ago! Nothing of her remains there but a festering demon!"

This angered Juliana who screamed and then created a thick, black cloud with her hands before throwing it at him. He leaped and escaped the blow but the thick walls behind it were not as lucky, and a large hole was formed when the cloud reached them. With fierce force, Gord attacked Juliana. "I will not allow you to seed evil in this world again!"

Her arm was caught between his sharp teeth but she pressed her other hand against his chest where heat with unbearable intensity was created, forcing him to release her. "I will finish what I came here to do and you would be wise to allow it!"

"Never! You slaughtered my people! You took her life! You took her humanity!"

"It served only as a burden to me. It _had to be_ removed!" Forming a chain from black mist, Juliana threw it over him, entrapping Gord. "The moment you traded your mortality for eternal life, you _knew_ your soul would suffer!"

The chains didn't hold long. Breaking free from them, he then attacked her again, leaving a deep, bloody wound in her abdomen. "If it meant your demise would be ensured then yes, it was worth it!"

When consciousness returned him to reality, John saw one of the pillars break under the force with which it was damaged as the large body of the black beast had been thrown against it. It was no longer the healthy, mighty creature with which he saw eye-to-eye before. It looked tired, bleeding, deep wounds all over its body. John immediately searched for Elizabeth and found her lying close to him. He tried to wake her but she failed to respond. Feeling for signs of life, he let out a brief sigh of relief. Gathering her up, he stood on his feet and was almost taken aback by the violent battle that had been going on before his eyes between this large creature and a much smaller, but unearthly human being. "What the _hell_ is that?"

The next blow that was thrown by Juliana had destroyed the mechanism that kept the entrances locked. Seeing this, John immediately hurried towards one of the exits whilst trying not to be struck by falling rock.

When the northern exit was reached, he cast one more look at the battle and its unknown reasons to him. A large rock fell too close to him and Elizabeth, forcing John to flee through the exit.

Exhausted, with barely any strength left, Juliana leaned against the pillar, her body wounded, her mind and soul weakened greatly. By the time she looked up again, the black cat had leaped towards her, trapping her neck in his jaw. He didn't leave a second longer for the demon inside her to live. He knew its time had come. With his last strength, he snapped her neck. A faint, unearthly scream echoed in the room, before silence took over. Releasing the bits of lifeless flesh, Gord backed away from it, feeling his strength – and his life – quickly drain away from him.

"Your death will set her innocence free…" He collapsed. "It will set us both free…" the last sign of life before he curled up and gave in to his end.

Before the last parts of those once strong pillars fell, a faint mist… a pale image of a white raven descended above his body. Digging inside the corpse, it pulled out a faint mist – like itself – of a sleeping man, before flying up and disappearing with it.


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.

* * *

She was not a light burden, but he managed to carry her through the tunnel and into the next room. He felt the tremors, saw the dust fly across from the shaken foundations, but afterwards he felt and heard nothing except silence. He saw this so-called room to be in a much poorer state than the others, but what he was concerned about now was to find a proper spot to place Elizabeth down on. 

He found something decent next to a crooked pillar with faint images of a Protector and a serpent. John placed her down on the stone floor surrounded by small debris, whilst being extra careful with the way he cradled her head in his hands. He hesitated, not willing to place her head against the hard surface; instead, he sat down on the floor and offered the softer and warmer surface of his hip. The floor felt cold and John saw it as not the best idea to remain here long. In the meantime, he tried to catch his breath and rest. He looked down at Elizabeth's face with the smudges of dirt and somewhere paint on her soft skin; the unwashed hair which had lost its shine and softness; the visible, darker bags under her eyes showing her exhaustion.

John carefully removed a strain of hair away from her cheek and then another from her forehead. He pressed the back of his hand tenderly against her cheek – it felt warm. She was breathing and alive, but he had no idea what that thing had done to her. He felt somewhat relieved that the paralysis had worn off like that, because having to watch Elizabeth's mind being assaulted worked unwell on his helpless senses. His mind couldn't make proper sense of what his eyes had seen. Elizabeth had been right when she wasn't certain how to explain this place anymore. John was feeling the same.

That hall had fallen apart, and this little room appeared… damaged long ago. Again, he could feel the tension slowly reemerging. He saw a tunnel blocked by fallen rock, and next to it had been this room. The rocks were too heavy to move and this dusty, old, forgotten room presented no other entrance of exit to his tired eyes in such poor light.

* * *

An old man with a gray beard and deep, brown eyes emerged from his modest, wooden home next to the river. He felt something to be different this morning. His eyes focused on the distant forest to the east. He then hurried to the small hut where the helmet of an ancestor was placed. The old man sat down and lowered his head as he began praying. When he looked up at the helmet, he noticed how it began to slowly fall apart. His lip trembled and tears filled his eyes. Could it be true?

* * *

The pale and scarce light which had managed to reach this room had been coming from somewhere in the tunnel and through the several cracks in the wall. The cold from the stone beneath him pinched to open his eyes. John realized that he had briefly given into slumber as he tried to adjust to the strange increase of light. His hand softly touched the damp hair of Elizabeth. She hadn't moved since he placed her there. It worried him. He considered removing her jacket – or what remained of it – but thought against it when he saw that she could be cold. He took off his shirt instead and folded it. Lifting her head carefully, he then moved away, placed the folded shirt on the floor and then slowly lowered her head again on it. It was not exactly a lush pillow, but under these circumstances it was the best he could offer. 

Despite being shirtless, John felt no cold, not even a breeze. He immediately began looking for some sort of exit – big or small – he didn't care. He lacked patience, much more than usual, and he wanted to leave this place desperately.

On some of the dusty walls he noticed faint images of the city's citizens; some near death with what looked like a ghostly image leaving their bodies, in the next section that same ghost entered and inhabited bodies of other living people for a time. Nothing like this was found anywhere else in the city, and once again it looked so much older than the other paintings. There were even writings but he could not understand them, not that he had wanted to or even tried to see how this strange story on the wall continued. All that was in John's head now was an exit and the thought of getting help for Elizabeth.

Next to the corner of the northern wall he noticed a significant crack. Visibility wasn't perfect but he could see something moving on the other side where he heard running water. Perhaps another river was there. Bare hands only wouldn't do much damage to this wall. John turned around to look for something that could help him. A sharp piece from a damaged pillar caught his attention. He grabbed it and used it to widen the crack. It took a while, but he succeeded. Not much light was before him but the small amounts that were there looked like those of the sun. They pierced through small openings of the cave – some high and some low – but neither appeared like a proper way out. When he looked down he saw the wide river with another dark tunnel on the other side. Stepping through the opening which he had made, John noticed an interesting rock formation to the left just above the river. It looked like a rough wall and its surface seemed suitable to climb on it and over the river.

But it was impossible to carry her across it. John cursed to this. Looking intently, he saw no other way across it. He licked his lips and turned around to look at where she lay. John hoped those creatures wouldn't return. He hurried to the wall and climbed on it. Moving across its rugged surface, he could feel the sprinkling river so close beneath his feet. The rays of sunlight illuminated very little, so he was forced to move slowly as not to fall.

Sweat had started leaving his body long ago and he was thankful that his palms hadn't suffered so far as he finally stepped on the other side. John had to see if there truly was some kind of exit on this side.

He made his way inside the black tunnel. He didn't have to go far as a large, bright beam of sunlight soon fell before him, signaling the end of the vertical tunnel. Following it up, he saw a big hole. Yes! An exit. John stepped inside the beam and his eyes were immediately attacked by this natural light. Blocking some of it with his hand, he soon saw another problem. The rugged wall seemed yet again, possible to climb on; however, it also continued up with a great height that was obstructed by intense sunlight towards the top. John could climb up but, only he… she would not, not in her state. He did not wish to leave her here, not knowing himself how long it could take him to find help. Instead of feeling slightly hopeful, John felt even more frustrated. He ran back to the wall over the river.

Moving along its surface, his grip betrayed him for a moment and he slipped down, his right leg touching the water. The current was strong as he tried to hold on. He struggled to pull himself up on the higher surface. If he had waited a few more seconds, his grip would have betrayed him completely and he would have fallen into the river. Finally, he managed to get to the other side. Running back to the room, John then kneeled down to check on Elizabeth. Alive but unconscious… nothing had changed.

Sudden but powerful pains in his stomach then suddenly hit him. He tried to breathe in but they only became stronger. Soon enough they engulfed his consciousness as he fell on floor next to Elizabeth. He was not able to remain awake long enough to see the many large paws that approached him and Elizabeth.

* * *

Three men found them lying before the entrance of a familiar cave. There were many bruises and scratches on the exposed skin; their faces showed slumber but one induced by pain. "_What's happened to them_?" one asked. 

"_I don't know. Call the others. We must bring them back to the village,_" the other one said.

* * *

Among the rubble in this once great hall was silence. Dust had settled long ago and there was nothing to disturb the stillness, until the heavy weight of the once mighty Protectors crushed many of the remains. The ten felines approached the area where they could sense the remains of the finished battle. They easily removed the stone ruins to reveal the two lifeless bodies. A black cat sniffed the remains of the human and then quickly backed away from it in disgust. A white cat observed the feline shape of its former master. It brought its head closer and sniffed it. There was no more life here. It lifted its head and snarled at the others who watched the two bodies. He had fulfilled his task. 

Then, one by one, each cat lifted its head high, standing almost proudly, and roared loudly towards the sky. The roars were frightening in their intensity but at the same time sounded like a calling melody to the heavens. A dark cloud was formed above that part of the city. Loud thunder echoed through the valley before lightning struck the, by now, fragile roof of the hall. As it opened the remains to the sky, repeated lightning struck each creature, killing it instantly. Falling down on the rubble, their deaths released a strong wind that hurried through each tunnel and room of the city; a last, dying call of a winged creature was heard before it quietly fell into the abyss. Every tapestry and scroll turned to ash; the torture chamber, the arena, the Protector's Hall… everything of a newer time crumbled and turned to worthless dust and sand. Only the older evidence of a truer age remained. The evil that plagued this city for so long was swallowed by time, buried forever from the eyes of the world, never to be seen again.

He saw two small faces leaning on two pair of hands, with two small eyes staring at him. Moving his gaze across, John saw the familiar flowers and patterns that adorned the walls of this small house. His nose picked up that delicious smell of a roasted fish he so adored and something to which his stomach immediately reacted. That welcomed sunlight that flowed through the opened doorway caressed the inner walls of this home; a special silk-like feel stroked his skin, tempting him to come outside into the daylight he hadn't seen for almost two weeks. His heart and mind wanted to, but his body was less willing.

Lying on that familiar woolen blanket, his back almost slumbered on the comfortable bundle, which allowed him to see what was happening. His exposed forearms revealed bruises and some healed scratches that he hadn't seen there before. John moved his hand on a long bow-like scratch. The moment his finger made contact with the healing mark, he felt a sting. It still needed time. But he didn't remember these being here before those dreadful stomach pains hit.

The two pair of eyes with their ever-so-curious gaze brought John's attention back to them. A boy and a girl he recognized; sitting cross-legged next to him, they simply kept staring at him. "_We thought you were dead when they brought you here_," the little boy told him.

"_It was scary_," the little girl added.

For kids their age, John could agree. But someone was missing. "_Where's Elizabeth_?" he wondered.

"_She is with my mother and aunt_," the little boy replied.

"_How is she_?" John asked.

The boy shrugged. He didn't know.

The little girl, with her hair in a single braid then suddenly embraced him. Her petite arms around his neck squeezed with what small might she had. "_We are happy you are better_," she told him.

Before he could respond, John was further surprised when the little boy embraced him as well. "_Very happy_," he said.

John wanted to smile to this. "_Thanks, you two_," he replied and slowly embraced them in return. _Nice to know someone cares_…

After they let go of him, an older woman entered the house and then sent the two away. John noticed a plate with a jug in her hands. Her gray, long hair was tucked modestly behind her shoulders, giving a chance for her red clothing to shine shyly in front of the entering sunlight. John recognized her as the wife of one of the village elders.

"_How do you feel_?" she asked.

"_Um…thirsty, very hungry_…" he replied, feeling somewhat relieved to have those urges back once more. Elda walked over to him and handed him the heavy jug. They somehow knew he would have the need for food and water so quickly. Having it in his hands, John saw it to contain water and immediately began gulping it down. By now, he felt he could swallow down an entire river. When he finally emptied the jug and put it down, he saw the pregnant Maya barely making her way to him with a plate of roasted fish. He was happy to see another familiar face…and one who carried food. She smiled at him and handed him the plate. As he took it, John asked, "_How is Elizabeth_?" he asked the two women.

"_Sleeping_," Maya told him.

"_So, she's okay_?"

"_She had many of the same markings on her body as you, but she appears to be in no danger_."

"Oh…" John set the plate in his lap. "_Did she wake up before_?"

The women shook their heads. Not a very good sign in John's view. But the smell of food cut his thoughts briefly as he began eating the fish with such hunger that it even surprised the villagers.

He was later told how he and Elizabeth had been found by accident in front of the Protector's cave two days earlier… the one where he had first taken the archeologist. How they ended up there though, was not in his memory.

* * *

When he visited the hut where Elizabeth had been, he was surprised to see her awake, trying gently to communicate with one of the female villagers whilst lying on that soft woolen blanket. "Good to see someone finally awake," John said lightly and sat down next to her. 

"Mm..." Elizabeth nodded slowly with brief closing of her eyes.

"How are you?" he asked her softly.

With the back of her hand on her forehead, Elizabeth exhaled and closed her eyes again. Her other hand pulled the woolen blanket further up over her chest, which still had the old clothes. The small mark on her punctured finger was still visible but looking to be already healing well. "Head is still spinning."

Those scars and bruises he recognized, but once again he remembered nothing of how most of them could have been inflicted on her. He looked back on her opening eyes in this naturally lit, little hut. At least she was awake at this moment – something he was content with seeing for now.

The young woman who sat on the other side then asked him something, to which John showed a sign of worry. "She said you were crying last night," he said to Elizabeth.

Bewildered, Elizabeth stared at the crooked ceiling, trying to remember. "I can't remember doing that…" she admitted.

After a few more words from the woman villager, John added, "she wondered if it was a bad dream."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't know," she responded weakly. "Last thing I remember was that big cat that leaped in front of us…" she exhaled sadly. "After that… nothing comes to mind…"

John licked his lips and then pressed them together. He saw the empty plate where only crumbs had remained sitting next to the villager, and a smaller jug which still had some water. "What did she do to you?" he asked.

"Juliana?" Elizabeth looked back at him.

"Yes."

Putting her hand back on her covered belly, Elizabeth swallowed. "Not really sure. It was strange… it felt like water was being poured inside my skull. It was so damn painful," she said and closed her eyes again.

John tilted his head as he continued to observe her in this silence. He hoped this ordeal was over….

* * *

John sat at the entrance of Leko and Maya's house with a twig in his hand that he played with. He could only see the soft light that was emerging from the house where Elizabeth went. He watched because almost four hours had passed. 

"_Why do you wait here, Jon_?" Maya's soft voice called him.

He glanced up at her before returning his eyes to the other house. "_She's been in there for a while now_."

"_The female body needs more care_," she told him, standing next to John.

He looked up at the night sky for a moment and saw the tiny stars resting on almost every spot, observing those on the ground. Looking back at the house, John exhaled.

Maya smiled at him even though he failed to notice. "_You listened to her when she spoke_."

"_I had to so I could translate, Maya_."

"_No, you listened to her speak, but not the words from her lips and not with your ears. You were listening_," she lowered her hand to his chest, allowing it to hover over his heart, "_with this_."

Knitting his eyebrows in confusion, John looked up at her.

"_I know_," she whispered and tapped his shoulder. Maya then entered the house again, leaving John to remain there and wonder what in the world she meant by that.

The sound of the cricket-like insects became quieter, not that he minded the interesting tones they created. "Why aren't you in bed?" a voice and sentence forced his eyes to open. He saw the green pants of pure silk around those tall legs and the slippers on her feet.

"Oh, uh, I was too tired to drag myself over to the blanket," he made an excuse not wanting to admit that he had been waiting for her to arrive.

Elizabeth chuckled and tapped his arm. "Well, move aside, I'm freezing out here," she told him.

John quickly got up, making enough room for Elizabeth to pass. Once she entered inside, her feet touching the beautifully thick and warm carpet, Elizabeth shivered from head to toe to shake away the cold from outside.

"That was one long bath," he said. John could feel the pleasant scent which left her skin. Only the women of this village had managed to disguise their natural scent in a sweet way like this. Usually, this was very appealing for the men….

She then spun around quickly and faced John. "And had it not been for this stupid headache, it would've been even more enjoyable."

He saw very little tiredness on her face, but it did not hide the minor annoyance. "It's that bad, huh?"

"Yes, it is." She sat down on the blanket. "Can't say that my body didn't enjoy the bath though. I could've stayed in that wooden tub for a very long time." She rubbed her temple and sighed. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Oh, fine, I think…" he answered before closing the door. He hadn't felt that worrying feeling of agitation from before return as of late.

She nodded and then pulled the blanket away to cover herself with it. "At least one of us is feeling much better," she said.

"Look at it this way… we got out with only a few scratches and…you with a headache to go with it. Others weren't so lucky," he told her and pulled his blanket over him.

John had been right, and Elizabeth was extremity grateful that both survived the city. The grotesque scene of all those bodies sent repetitive shivers through her. It could have easily been them.

The candles were blown out and the darkness of the night prevailed. "You still can't remember how we left the city?" she asked in the silence.

"No."

"Okay…" She closed her eyes. "Sleep well, John."

"You, too, Elizabeth."

* * *

Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of conspiracy amongst the chickens in this village, as one of them was again responsible for the early wake-up call… and a little too early for her taste, especially when the irritation of that agonizing headache was added to the mix. 

Both were invited that morning to a small gathering of the village elders and some of the other villagers, who felt curious as to what John and Elizabeth had seen in the Bronze City. The chosen place had been in the open beneath the shade of a large tree, surrounded by flowers which released that pleasant smell Elizabeth remembered on her first visit here. Five older men and their wives sat on the small woolen bundles in a circle. The woolen clothes with green and red that they wore looked ordinary and modest, but it was the small black tattoo of a feline in battle on their left wrists that told of their status.

They reacted little to everything that was described to them, until John mentioned the battle he witnessed between the large cat and the possessed woman before he was forced to leave. "_Was she killed_?" one of the men asked.

"_I wasn't around to witness that_," John replied.

"_She had to be; the helmet told us_," the other man replied.

"_The helmet_?"

"_The only possession our people have had that belonged to him._ _For the past 5,000 years our people have prayed to it to give Gord his strength … with every generation. Once it began falling to pieces… it meant his own life had deteriorated_."

Elizabeth was intrigued. Despite the annoying headache that made it harder for her, she asked for them to tell her more.

"_Not many know of what we tell you, and not many are supposed to… but you have already seen so much_. _She was the downfall of our great city_," the old man told her. "_She abandoned the peaceful traditions and wanted to wage war against the other people with the help of the Protectors. Her subjects were not pleased with her decision_."

"_I can see why… from everything we saw, I got the impression that their main role was to guard the city_."

"_Yes, only to guard it, but never, **never** to begin wars. Some of the other peoples at the time had great respect for us because of that. But she… changed the city. In a few years it became a place of death instead of life_."

The bald man next to him nodded. "_When her subjects rebelled against her and how she was using the Protectors as nothing but weapons to kill… Destvia used those magnificent creatures against her own people… she slaughtered everyone but a few adults and the children, which were orphaned_."

Remembering the chaos in the beginning of her exploration of the city, Elizabeth was saddened by this. She listened to them and how the survivors fled the city. She learned how the villagers of today were the direct descendants of the Ancient Krolevans. "What about this warrior Gord?" she asked.

"_Gord was a close friend of the queen. He succeeded in stopping her from doing even more harm… only, we don't know how. She was not defeated, but merely put to slumber. However, from legend we know that he sacrificed his mortal soul for immortality so if she was to ever awaken once more, he would make certain she could never do evil on this Earth again._"

"Immortality was not favored among your ancestors from what we learned…" Elizabeth said.

"_Yes. Our ancestors despised immortality. They believed whatever time Nature gives you on this earth is enough_."

Elda, sitting next to her husband revealed a small, red bundle. She soon revealed pieces of a helmet. "_This crumbled four days earlier. We believe Gord had finally vanquished the evil from Kroleva and Delonia_," Mudra the chief elder said. He then took two pieces and gave one to John and then Elizabeth.

Neither was certain if it was right to accept this, but Mudra assured them that it was. They had been responsible for much of what had happened in the city, and in the elders' view, they deserved this.

"_Now, we will pray that the heavens will accept Gord's soul, because he defeated that evil spirit_," Mudra told them.

"_Had he not done that_," the bald man next to him said, "_his soul would have been forever cursed_."

"_He was that black cat in the arena…_" John said wistfully.

"_You saw him one last time and what he had become_," Elda said. "_Such an honor_. _We wish we could have been as fortunate. After so many centuries we did not know that he himself had turned into a Protector until you told us. But we are content now with knowing that his noble sacrifice saved the city and our land_."

Elizabeth and John exchanged a look and then sincerely thanked them for their kindness.

* * *

They were accompanied by Leko and two other villagers back to the city the next morning. Passing the mountains on horseback, Elizabeth observed the much whiter fog that covered the valley. Both she and John were given new, warm clothing…something for which she was once again grateful. She wished to gather all the events together and make some kind of conclusion out of them, but her throbbing headache was making it nearly impossible for her. She was given a remedy from a plant by the Mountain Krolevans for it but it did nothing. They were surprised by this, as it had always cured headaches. It was beginning to get frustrating. 

When they stopped to get some rest, John helped with the horses while Elizabeth walked over at that same edge as the first time. "Still having the headache?" he asked when he joined her.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes. It's irritating." She then wrapped her arms around her and shook her head. "They will not be happy when they find out that half of the city is in ruins by now…" They were told by the villagers of the loud thunder that had echoed throughout the valley before, and how much of the city fell afterwards, to the shock of many.

"Uh, 5,000 years have gone by. After what had happened… maybe that was how it was supposed to be," he said with his hands in his pockets. He saw her look at him, her hair hidden behind a black scarf. Some of the tiredness had gone away from her face but not all of it. She tried to smile as much as the headache would allow her.

"I wish I could be as optimistic as you, John…" Elizabeth pressed her lips and shook her head. Her lips then parted to release a sot sigh. "It's sad in a way," she then said with a low voice. "But it was too good to be true, I guess."

They stood there shoulder to shoulder, looking at what was on display before them: those unusual shapes that emerged from the mist - each different and unique to the eye. The wind and the occasional whisper from the other villagers were the only sounds they heard here. Both were comforted that the other got out of this ordeal alive and well… to some extent, at least.

* * *

She was brought to him during the night, the remains of her body placed carefully on the floor. Romeo stood there, looking at his former partner, his friend, lover, everything. "Did you find anyone else?" he asked. 

"No," one of the men replied. "Only her."

"Leave," he then said. When the door closed, Romeo kneeled down next to the remains. He slowly touched the peaceful face of Juliana. He imagined this to be done by an animal, as no wound on her appeared to have been inflicted by a human being. He never saw the blackness which had devoured her body and covered her skin before; he never witnessed the life that had drained away from her so quickly. All he saw now was a sad sight of a mutilated body that was a woman he once loved. He broke down and wept in silence.

* * *

He had finished his shower just when he heard a knock on the door. John hurried to put on a pair of pants and then ran up to the door. He was surprised to find her standing there with a small backpack and a small smile on her face. 

"Had a nice shower?" she asked, noticing that he hadn't managed to dry himself completely.

"Yes, I did. Thanks for asking." John leaned against the doorframe. "So you found the right address this time."

"And it was painstaking work, let me tell you," Elizabeth reminded him. "I'm sure the secret service would be easier to find than your house around here."

John smirked. "How's the…" he pointed to his head.

"The same."

"Oh, saw a doctor?"

"Yeah… apparently nothing is wrong. Gonna go see another one when I get home."

John nodded. "Looks like you could use a second opinion."

Elizabeth pursed her lips as she saw him leaning against the doorframe like that. Apparently this was the first time she saw what nice built this man had, something to be admired… despite the forest that was his chest hair. "Aren't you going to reward my hard work of locating your house with permission to come inside?" she asked.

Keeping his gaze on her, John pushed himself off and with his arm draped on the door he stepped aside and motioned for her to come in. The thought of rewarding her in other ways as well would have crossed his mind if the circumstances had been different.

After the small hallway, she walked inside the living room. The dark yellow walls that welcomed her were covered with wooden shelves with quite a few artifacts upon them. John was not kidding when he told her he collected these little ancient treasures. On the left side she saw a small kitchen with another door on the other side, and on the right another short corridor, no doubt leading to the bedroom. Being the polite guest that she usually was, Elizabeth would have either continued standing here, or sit down on one of the two yellow and quite comfortable-looking chairs separated by a small wooden table. In this case however, she simply walked out of the living room, to John's amazement, and allowed her curiosity to take her through the right, short corridor and inside the smaller room which she correctly guessed to be the bedroom: the bright sunshine falling on the untidy but welcoming bed, two abstract paintings which hung above the bed, and a table with a thick book on it.

Despite the presence of sunlight through the single window, the shadows that occupied the rest of the room gave it a nice, intimate feel. Elizabeth cursed her headache as it gave a hard time for her more special thoughts to play in her mind.

It wasn't just Elizabeth who was unhappy with the presence of her headache though, as John watched her silently from behind.

"Can I see the rest?" she then asked.

"That would be the… bathroom and garden." John waved towards her. Elizabeth hurried after her host, but declined the offer to see the bathroom. When she stepped out in the garden, she stopped in the shade where she was pleasantly surprised. "Wow, very nice…" she said.

"It's even better at night."

"I can imagine." After a while, she looked down at her backpack. "Um, look, the reason why I came here…" she said as she turned to him, seemingly disappointed by her original intention for her visit. "I wanted to show you something." She pulled out a couple of blank prints from her bag and gave them to John.

"And these are…"

"The photos I took of the city."

John wasn't quite sure if Elizabeth was joking by this, even more so after she showed him a blank recording on her camera…easier to carry than the files with her laptop, as she had put it. "I thought they turned out," John said.

"They did. But even the copies I gave to George became like these." When he opened his mouth to ask, she immediately replied, "I don't know why."

"Much of the Bronze City falls to ruins and these… images, just, what, vanish?" Having not seen anything with his own eyes on these photographs or video, John wasn't certain what to believe.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip. "Looks insane, doesn't it?"

"P-robably."

"So much for my evidence."

"Ah, they'll share most of what they find with you guys, like they usually do…" He saw no response to this. "Right?"

"That's another reason why I came here…to say goodbye," Elizabeth told him. She took her prints and camera, then put them back in her backpack.

This hit him unexpectedly. "Leaving already?"

"Yes… I was 'kindly' asked by the authorities to do so."

"They thought it was your fault –"

"I doubt it, to be honest. George even mentioned that it was more of them waiting for the slightest chance for me to screw up so they could send me packing."

"The would-be negotiator didn't manage to talk herself into staying longer?"

"Not this time."

He was as disappointed in this as she was. "Sorry to hear that… I know how much this expedition meant to you."

"Yes, so am I. But… I did learn more about the ancient Krolevans than I ever dreamt I would. I'm just a bit short of evidence to back up what I've discovered."

John watched the disappointment so clear on her face despite her best attempt to hide it. "When's your plane leaving?" he asked.

"In four hours."

John blinked in response to this. "Didn't waste much time, did they…"

"No." Elizabeth approached him. She pulled out a card with her name and phone number. "In case you're ever in the neighborhood."

He took it, scanned it quickly with his gaze and looked up at her. John hadn't expected for her to leave only two days after they had returned to the city.

"Thanks," she then told him. "For…your help."

John smiled. "It's my job."

Elizabeth chuckled. She knew better. "How much do I owe you?" she asked as she pulled out her wallet.

"Ah… nothing," he told her. At her considerably confused look he added, "I got you expelled, after all."

She smiled briefly. "Actually, I discovered many unexpected things during my…'short' stay here, thanks to you." Elizabeth wished to add 'friendship' to her words but she refrained from it, knowing that both had been long aware of that.

This appeared more difficult than Elizabeth had imagined. Instead, she then embraced him. "Take care of yourself, John," she told him.

With his warm arms around her, her briefly closed his eyes. "Frankly, I think you need that more than I do," he said and heard her quiet chuckle.

Despite his offer for her to remain longer, Elizabeth declined and left shortly after. John saw the small taxi waiting outside, her bags there – less than what she had come with. "Have a safe trip."

"Thanks," she replied and sat down in the small carriage. Elizabeth gave him one last wave before the taxi disappeared behind the dust from the road. She even declined for him to escort her to the airport. He found it strange as he closed the door slowly behind him. Leaning back, he looked at the card with her name on it. He would miss this woman.

* * *

Sitting down with her left leg on the yellow chair, Gloria was handed a cold beer. "_When did she leave_?" she asked and leaned back. 

"_Yesterday_," John replied and sat on the opposite chair.

Leaning her head on her finger, Gloria's emerald eyes studied him. "_If I didn't know you better, John, I would say that you miss her a little_."

John smirked. "_Maybe. She grew on me_."

"_She must have_." She smiled. "_You wouldn't have asked me to come otherwise and share this with me_." Gloria knew his history with the women here well.

Looking at the beer in his hands, John licked his lips. "_Actually, I was thinking of leaving Kroleva_."

This was something that caught the woman by surprise. "_Seriously_?" She saw his gaze and his nod. "_Oh, why_?"

"_I think five years has been enough for me…_"

She stared at him with astonishment as she slowly shook her head at his decision. "_She really did a number on you_…"

John laughed. "_I'd say it was more that she reminded me of how I've missed going to places_."

His voice sounded sentimental, his gaze almost sad. "_I thought Kroleva was your home now_," she said.

"_I thought so, too… now, I'm not so sure_."

"_You'll be going back to America then_?"

"_No. That's not my home anymore_."

"_Canada_?" she guessed.

He laughed again. "_Nope_."

Gloria lifted her shoulders as she waited. "_Well_?"

"_I don't know. I think I'll go visit some friends in Asia…_"

She watched him silently. He seemed determined. "_You'll always have a home here, John_," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I know…" He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "_Thanks, Gloria_."

She kissed his cheek. "_Good luck to you_," she told him.

John nodded and touched his bottle to hers. "_Same to you_."

**End of Part 1**

Author's note: Thank you for your reviews! I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. :) Also, a special thank you to **Jess**. :-)


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